History is witness to the fact the coterie politics once promoted by Indira Gandhi during his tenure as Prime Minister of the country was the cause of a major poll debacle of her Congress party and finally she took certain lessons from the failures of coterie politics and did not promote coterie politics in her second tenure of Prime Ministership.
Experiences of decades of popular rule both in Jammu & Kashmir and as well as at the centre has shown that coterie politics has always spoiledthe basic spirits of public representation as leaders nowhere connected with the people at the grassroots usually become the part of the coterie of Chief Ministers in States and Prime Ministers at the centre. History is witness to the fact the coterie politics once promoted by Indira Gandhi during his tenure as Prime Minister of the country was the cause of a major poll debacle of her Congress party and finally she took certain lessons from the failures of coterie politics and did not promote coterie politics in her second tenure of Prime Ministership. This time when a new NC-Congress Coalition Government is about to take over the reigns of the power in Jammu & Kashmir there- rise of coterie politics in this new Government would be watched seriously by eye watchers in Kashmir in view of the experiences of coterie politics that led to the defeat of National Conference in 2014 assembly elections. Though there is a general public perception that incoming Chief Minister Omar Abdullah won’t have any bending inclination towards those coterie politicians who could not retain their own assembly constituencies in the 2014 assembly elections and National Conference was seen going down by 13 seats but the engagement of some of the coterie politicians with the ongoing Government formation even after loosing contests in their home constituencies in the recent assembly elections has triggered the fears of re-rise of the coterie politics under the incoming Government.
“While the leaders who tasted defeat in the recently held assembly elections are surprisingly trying to seek induction in the new power apparatus through backdoor, it is for the Chief Minister to undo the trends and tendencies of seeking inductions in the new power apparatus of the Government through back door in the larger interests of the public representation and public welfare. Chief Minister’s zero tolerance against the re-rise of the coterie politics could be the beginning of this new journey which would hopefully change the dynamics of public representation in Jammu & Kashmir.”
As people punished even 2-3 time MLAs in the recently held assembly elections for defecting from party to party more frequently than expected, it is for the Chief Minister to ensure that winners of the recently held assembly elections are not in any way overpowered by coterie politicians who have been denied the mandate by the people of their home constituencies. While the leaders who tasted defeat in the recently held assembly elections are surprisingly trying to seek induction in the new power apparatus through backdoor, it is for the Chief Minister to undo the trends and tendencies of seeking inductions in the new power apparatus of the Government through back door in the larger interests of the public representation and public welfare. Chief Minister’s zero tolerance against the re-rise of the coterie politics could be the beginning of this new journey which would hopefully change the dynamics of public representation in Jammu & Kashmir.
