Ever since the withdrawal of Article 370 in August 2019, the mainstream politics in Kashmir is going through some churning. The latest example of this is the return of Muzaffar Hussain Beigh to his parent party, the People’s Conference (PC), now led by Sajad Gani Lone. Beigh had started his political career with the PC in the early eighties, unsuccessfully contesting an assembly election as the party’s candidate in 1983 from Baramulla. He later moved on in his life, pursuing his legal career outside Jammu and Kashmir, returning only in the late nineties to co-found the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) along with late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 1998 and rising to become the then state’s Deputy Chief Minister in the subsequent PDP-led government.
Beigh’s presence in the PC is expected to add some political heft to the party whose electoral presence is still confined to a part of North Kashmir. Will Beigh help change this reality? The answer to this question is moot. Beigh has never been a mass leader, albeit he enjoys some support in Baramulla, his constituency that will certainly be helpful to the PC.
But the significance of Beigh’s joining the PC goes beyond its electoral impact, which, in any case, will be minimal. He helps the PC further shore up its presence in north Kashmir already bolstered by the leaders like Imran Raza Ansari. This could make Lone a formidable political player in future elections.
NEW FORCE
This story is from the March 21, 2021 edition of Kashmir Life.
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This story is from the March 21, 2021 edition of Kashmir Life.
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