Hindustan Times | There is an appetite for BJP’s politics in Kashmir, says Ram Madhav

There are a couple of issues that are really very important for us to take note of. Firstly, we came second in two seats. In one of those seats, Gurez, we came very close to victory — the margin was 1,000-odd votes. And in many seats, we got votes in thousands.

More importantly, when I campaigned in some of these constituencies, I used to have 3,000 to 3,500 people in the audience, and they used to patiently listen to our speeches, shout slogans in support of Prime Minister Modi…They applauded when we talked about his development programmes. There is now a mood to listen to us. Maybe there is no readiness to vote for us yet, but there is a mood to listen to us, accept us as a part of Kashmir politics. We now have to build our party strength on that goodwill.

That is one important message we take home from these elections, compared to the previous election in 2014, in which also I campaigned. It used to be very difficult for us to get 200- 300 people in the audience.

And everybody must remember that the Congress has been there for the last 50-60 years, and yet they cannot contest and win in more than three or four seats. They won 4-5 seats in the Valley piggybacking on the NC. But we won’t take that much time. We will grow very quickly.

Do you think the BJP failed to read and address the latent anger against the abrogation of Article 370?

I would put it differently. It was actually a trap. There was no sentiment in favour of Article 370 in the Valley at all. The NC laid out this trap and tried to drag the discourse to this particular topic.

That it was just a ploy became clear on the day of the result,when Omar Abdullah after winning said, it’s not a priority for us, we are not expecting its return; and [there was] no reaction in the Valley. It is clear that they wanted to use it as a red herring to consolidate their votes. The issue had no traction and that’s the reason why they changed their goalpost to statehood.

But the issue of statehood finds resonance both in the Valley and in Jammu. And the BJP’s leadership has said on record that statehood will be restored. When will it be restored, can you give us a timeline?

The Union government right from the Prime Minister and home minister downward, has repeatedly said that statehood will be granted at an appropriate time. But Parliament will be the right forum to decide on that. Parliament will take a final call on the timing and its structure. J&K is not like any other state, we have covered a lot of ground in terms of containing terrorism, separatism, stone pelting and hartals in the past five years, post the abrogation of Article 370. Those benefits that we secured should not be frittered away. The government will take a decision in consultation with other parties at an appropriate time…

Did the BJP fail in conveying its message to the voters? Within the party, too, some feel that the BJP erred by making abrogation and nationalism the centrepiece of the elections.

No, we delivered our message very effectively. While national security is an important topic… together with that we spoke of the development agenda of the Prime Minister, his government, and how it has transformed the UT in the last five years. Right from the grassroots development to the beautification of the city, electrification and roads in every area, lots of good work has happened in the last five years that also has been showcased by us in our campaign. What was the situation before 2014 and what is the situation now… and we got a lot of support from the people for the good governance message. That’s the reason why we are the largest party in terms of the vote share. We secured nearly 26% popular vote whereas the vote share of the NC is about 23.5% when both of us contested the same number of seats.

These elections have emerged as a contest between Jammu and the Valley — the NC is concentrated in the Valley and the BJP in Jammu. Now there are concerns about the aspirations of voters in Jammu, whether they will have representation in the government? How do you see this dichotomy?

If you exclude the Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar districts, there is no representation for NC in this entire Jammu region. It will certainly be a challenge for the new government without representation from the mainland Jammu area. The entire mainland Jammu voted for BJP and a couple of independents. It is for the NC to think carefully… that they cannot ignore the interests and sentiments of the people of Jammu, who are represented by the BJP.

There is a controversy over the provision of nominated members to the assembly. The NC today said the lieutenant governor (LG) should not nominate BJP members, and should wait for the government to make suggestions…

If they (nominated members) are pro-BJP, it is wrong; and if they are pro-NC, then it is right?

Whatever has to be done with respect to those five nominations will be done according to the guidelines of the J&K Reorganisation Act that was passed by Parliament, there is no politics in that.

Given the powers vested in the LG, some sections feel much like Delhi where the government and the LG seem to be at loggerheads on most issues, the stage is set for a confrontation in J&K as well.

I am sure it will function like other UTs where LGs have certain powers and elected governments have certain other powers. There is a clear demarcation of powers. If the elected government rears to fight with the LG, just as how it happens in Delhi then it will be to the detriment of the people of J&K. I’m sure Omar Abdullah will keep it in mind rather than complaining about the powers of LG. They all should work together… As far as the Union government is concerned, there won’t be any appetite for any quarrel.

Your former ally the PDP has delivered its worst performance, even in its bastion of South Kashmir. Some say it is the consequence of having allied with the BJP.

The PDP parted ways with the BJP six years ago. And if it could not tell its followers why it parted ways with the BJP and what their politics is, then it is their failure. But as far as I know the PDP got weakened because of certain internal politics, which I would not like to comment on.

Others who have also associated with BJP are doing well in politics, let me remind you that Omar Abdullah was part of the [Atal Bihari] Vajpayee government.

The BJP had underscored how it empowered the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the UT; Pahadis got reservation and for the first time seats were reserved for the SCs. Yet, the party did not do well in these constituencies. What went wrong?

It’s true that we could not win seats in the Pahadi and Gujar dominated seats, but we did secure a good number of votes. In any case, granting reservations was not any electoral ploy. For us, it is our commitment to the people, the tribal people, which we feel fulfilled by the providing reservations.

The BJP won 29 of 43 seats in Jammu. What could have been done to increase the BJP’s number in the Jammu region to put you in the position to stake claim to forming government?

This is one question we have to ponder over. Should the BJP limit itself to the 6-7 Hindu-dominated districts in Jammu, or should it try to expand the political footprint across other districts, for example, Poonch and Rajouri? I would say the deciding region of the election were the nine seats in Poonch and Rajouri. These became the final determining factor for the NC to win. The BJP has to first extend its political influence in these areas and subsequently, expand its footprint in the Kashmir region. Like I mentioned, there is now an appetite for BJP’s politics in the Valley… It’s no longer a pariah.

Bodies that supported separatism, such as the Jamat, and individuals such as Engineer Rashid participated in the elections. How do you see their participation in elections?

The secessionist tendencies are wrong, but one way to bring them into mainstream is to encourage them to get into the process of democratic elections. That is what is the greatest achievement of Prime Minister Modi’s government… traditional boycotters of elections contested. Poll boycott used to be a routine phenomenon in the Valley but this time they not only participated but also contested. One can have objection to their separatist rhetoric and all but for them to join in the electron process is an indication of their loyalty to the Indian Constitution, which should be welcomed.

Do you think the future of the smaller parties is at stake, if you compare elections in Haryana as well as in Jammu Kashmir, smaller parties are nearly decimated.

I have nothing against smaller parties…They have a role to play in Indian politics…but increasingly, the electorate is getting polarized and that is going in favor of the established big parties. It’s a trend in elections today, but one should not say that smaller parties have no role or no right.

You were considered the architect of the PDP-BJP alliance in J&K and credited for the expansion of the party in the northeast. What next for Ram Madhav?

That party will decide. But personally, although personal views have no place in politics, I’m certainly disappointed by the failure to contain the NC-Congress alliance from securing numbers to form government. I know that BJP had no chance of winning full majority in a place like Jammu and Kashmir, but we were keen that the NC-Congress alliance shouldn’t secure enough numbers, but we failed.

You know you have a ringside view of things in the RSS and the party. Of late, there is speculation that the ties between the two are under strain.

I’m an example that this speculation is propaganda…The very fact that the organisation (RSS) wanted me to go back and work in the party shows that there is no strain.