Politics | Will Omar Abdullah abide by the new rules?

The reality remains even if Mehbooba Mufti and the Abdullahs assumingly come together to form an alliance, they still have to abide by the new rules set by the Centre.After scrapping the special status of Jammu & Kashmir in August, the Centre has finally released key leaders of the National Conference, Farooq Abdullah (on March 13) and his son Omar Abdullah (on March 24), both of whom have been the former chief ministers of the erstwhile state. While they remained under detention, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promoted a third front in the form of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) headed by Altaf Bukhari.

Rumour is that New Delhi has struck a deal with Abdullahs to reassure their renewed roles for participating in the embedded structure of mainstream politics in the region, which possibly could be an assurance given on land and jobs reservation for the locals. By monopolising the arguments on Article 370, New Delhi single-handedly has won its zero-sum game by completely changing the status quo making mainstreamers redundant once again. It must be remember that the abrogation of J&K’s special status caused more damage to pro-Indian polity than to the pro-Hurriyat section.

During these eight months of uncertainty, the emerging faces might claim to have the capacity to replace the older lot, but New Delhi realises the existence of Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) Mehbooba Mufti in the electoral forum will always keep mainstream politics relevant. Seeing the release of Omar Abdullah along with his MP father through these events, commoners don’t seem to be thrilled with the release of selected politicians.

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