It was a shot in the arm for People’s Democratic Party (PDP) when two former lawmakers of J&K joined back the party on Sunday. They chose to return to party fold nearly four years after quitting the party.
Mansoor Hussain Suharwardy is a former PDP MLA while Yasir Reshi served as an MLC. While the two of them may not be big names in the political arena of J&K, especially in the changed order of the UT, it is certainly a big gain for the party in more ways than one.
Suharwardy and Reshi were among dozens of senior and second-rung leaders who deserted the PDP in the aftermath of the BJP pulling out of their coalition government in 2018.
In the swiftly changing political scenario at that time, they chose to join the People’s Conference (PC) led by Sajjad Gani Lone in 2021.
Not only the duo, but many other leaders, who were considered big assets for the party and stalwarts across J&K, also parted ways with the PDP as a result of which the latter faced complete erosion gradually.
This continued until last year before Assembly elections when many veterans like former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Khursheed Alam and Basharat Bukhari and others returned to the party.
There is no denying the fact that PDP was once a formidable force in Jammu and Kashmir, when first it was headed by the then chief minister Mufti Mohammad Syed along with many other stalwarts on board, including his daughter Mehbooba Mufti under whose stewardship the party remains till date.
However, because of several reasons, it was seen grappling with a steep decline, with internal dissent, defections and a growing electoral challenge threatening its future.
The party was founded in 1999 at a time when J&K was struggling with the onslaught of militancy and violence all across. At that time, there was anti-establishment sentiment, and the masses were against the National Conference and blaming the latter for everything that went wrong politically.
The PDP, therefore, emerged as a significant player by capitalising on anti-NC sentiment and positioning itself as a bridge between separatists and mainstream politics, since it leaned on a policy which was the shadow sentiment of separatists.
The PDP registered early success politically which was further strengthened by its alliance with the Congress in 2002.
This gave the party instant elevation with party founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed becoming chief minister, riding on a wave of public support driven by his promise of dialogue between India and Pakistan.
During Mufti’s tenure, cross-border relations improved and dialogue between New Delhi and separatist leaders saw some momentum. The party’s rise continued during 2008 and 2014 elections where it made significant gains, especially in South Kashmir, and even broke into NC’s stronghold in Srinagar.
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However, the PDP’s decision to form a post-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the 2014 elections became a turning point, which pushed it at a crossroads. Primarily because, this was seen as a betrayal by many in Kashmir and many of its own leaders see this decision as ‘suicidal’ and attribute the ‘unnatural’ alliance to erosion of the party’s support base.
Even though in Kashmir, it was seen for many years that both NC and PDP took turns to come to power alternatively but when the PDP decided to join the BJP, they lost credibility because people saw them as the party which allowed BJP to enter into the power corridors of J&K.
For leadership to justify this, they said the PDP went into the coalition with the idea of fostering peace and protecting Articles 370 and 35A, but it was itself stunned when the BJP parted ways and later revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
The party faced actual decline after Mufti Syed’s death in January 2016 even as Mehbooba struggled to hold the party together amid rising civil unrest in Kashmir.
Due to the fast-changing political scenario, the PDP lost key leaders like Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Haseeb Drabu, primarily due to internal dissent. The leaders going elsewhere was, however, attributed by some to ‘machinations’ by the BJP. It is all part of the game called politics, and there are of course, other reasons why veterans called it a day with the PDP.
The PDP also faced a complete rout in the 2024 Assembly elections when ruling NC entered into its stronghold areas in South Kashmir. It managed to win only a few seats.
However, last few months gradually saw some of its stalwarts choosing to embrace the old party, a decisive development giving edge to the PDP. Though Assembly elections are faraway, comeback of its senior leaders is seen as a first step to regain the strength across UT, Kashmir in particular.
By Saroj Razdan
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