After Mufti, Mehbooba is best option for J&K

The death of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed on Thursday removes a stalwart from the scene. The evolution of politics in the state will be watched with both anxiety and interest after the departure of the Kashmiri leader who can be said to have been the most significant public entity from Kashmir after Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah.

The Mufti was also Union home minister in the V.P. Singh dispensation, besides having been president of the state Congress, waging political battles against the larger-than-life figure of Sheikh Abdullah on behalf of his party, although he was full of admiration for the Sheikh. He knew his state and his country, with their nuances, particularities and special needs, and qualifies to be a great Kashmiri and a great Indian. Probably the only chance for the PDP-BJP coalition government to survive after Mr Sayeed is to make his daughter Mehbooba, the PDP president, chief minister.

Even then, it is unlikely to be an easy ride. PDP factions were kept in check through the Mufti’s aura, as was the urge for brinkmanship of the BJP, which has tried to pick on one communal issue after another in order to consolidate its position in the Hindu-majority Jammu region of the state, where it is perceives a challenge from the Congress.

If the BJP or elements in PDP seek to block Mehbooba, we could be in for a spell of uncertainty and instability in the border state; indeed PDP’s existence as the second regional party of substance — after the National Conference — could be imperilled. Since it came to power on March 1 last year after a lengthy negotiation process of two and a half months to arrive at an agenda of governance, the PDP-BJP coalition government of Mufti Sayeed was forever seeking to fix political problems on account of the incompatible character of the two parties, which Mr Sayeed once likened to North Pole and South Pole, and was unable to deliver much by way of governance. This would make Mehbooba’s job harder.

The Mufti’s tenure as CM for three years in partnership with the Congress earlier was more productive, as was Omar Abdullah’s term as CM later, although the young leader appeared to have lost the plot and gained negative publicity after the 2010 stone-pelting agitation. If the post-Mufti PDP-BJP politics goes out of kilter, other options are apt to open up.

The coming summer could be an especially difficult one in the Valley in light of developments of the past year and Pakistan’s known proclivities. It has to be seen if the security forces will accord the Mufti’s successor the respect they did the former CM. The Centre too must play its hand with care and sensitivity.