Demand for development, peace behind record vote

Showing a rare enthusiasm for elections, villagers lined up outside polling booths in three north Kashmir constituencies today8212;the more than 60 turnout being seen as a mandate for self rule, development, even a larger stake in the Indo-Pak peace process.

Showing a rare enthusiasm for elections, villagers lined up outside polling booths in three north Kashmir constituencies today8212;the more than 60 turnout being seen as a mandate for self rule, development, even a larger stake in the Indo-Pak peace process.

If anything was missing from this acrimonious electoral battle, it was the traditional 8220;poll-boycott constituency.8221; For, instead of militants, this time mainstream political parties were blamed for orchestrating attacks on rivals, faking militant posters to alter voter turnout.

On the campaign trail, National Conference president Omar Abdullah advocated a direct dialogue with Hizbul and praised Pak President Pervez Musharraf8217;s proposals to resolve the Kashmir dispute. His rival and ruling PDP president Mehbooba Mufti called for porous borders and took credit for reopening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road. So the local became the national, the national the local.

In fact, Abdullah was very critical of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad8217;s recent statement that the NDA Government8217;s dialogue with gun-wielding and masked Hizbul militants was a shame.

8216;8216;They Hizbul militants were not gun wielding. There was a ceasefire,8221; Abdullah said. 8216;8216;We want a ceasefire in Kashmir so that a genuine political process pushes peace forward.8221;

For the PDP, its soft 8220;separatist politics8221; meant that the moderate Hurriyat was its main opposition. So it advocated self-rule and open movement of people and goods across the LoC.

When former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed campaigned for his party candidate in Rafiabad, he referred to the achievements of his party8217;s three year-rule which saw the first bus roll down the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road.

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This new politics of peace was, however, not the only reason why villagers of north Kashmir came out in droves today.

In the changed dynamics between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, their motivation to vote was also to join the race for development, improvement in the standards of daily life and local political sensitivities.

For example, in Rafiabad, where PDP8217;s Dilawar Mir is locked in a fierce contest with NC leader Mohammad Maqbool Mir, one poll issue is the the location of tehsil headquarters, a road link, repair of a drain.

In Sangrama, Deputy Chief Minister and PDP stalwart Muzaffar Hussain Beig8217;s nephew is fighting against Beig8217;s assassinated cabinet colleague Ghulam Nabi Lone8217;s 26-year-old son Shoaib Lone, who is openly supported by National Conference and is 8220;informally8221; backed by the Congress.

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Pattan is witnessing a division on sectarian lines as Shia clergyman Molvi Iftikhar Ansari is in a contest with Farooq Abdullah8217;s brother and NC leader Mustafa Kamal.

These polls have also seen a new trend of election violence. Hizbul posters asking for a poll boycott appeared in Pattan, in Sunni areas.

The Hizbul issued a statement denying these posters. The issue took an interesting turn when NC patron and former CM Farooq Abdullah blamed PDP for creating 8220;fear psychosis8221; among voters by faking militant posters and publishing and distributing boycott pamphlets of Hurriyat hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Pattan is a test case for the PDP vs NC rivalry. Both have fielded party heavyweights.

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The Congress, ostensibly, is not fighting the polls, leaving the constituency to its coalition partner PDP. But on the ground, there are several cases of its leadership and workers supporting the NC.

The PDP, too, is a divided house and one of its senior leaders and former minister Ghulam Hassan Mir is openly supporting the National Conference.