Urban-rural divide, terror to challenge Omar

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Jammu: Young National Conference Chief Omar Abdullah, who is set to don the mantle of chief minister on Monday, has a difficult road ahead with terrorism as well as growing regional and urban-rural divide in Jammu and Kashmir certain to be high on his agenda.

Omar, the third generation Abdullah family member and youngest chief minister of the border state, also faces high expectations of people besides having to deal with a strong opposition in People's Democratic Party (PDP) and BJP.

The 38-year-old leader is perhaps the first chief minister who will have to grapple with an alarming rise in regional divide in the state since Independence. No other government head including his father Farooq Abdullah and grand father Sheikh Abdullah had faced such a dicey situation, say political analysts.

"There was no regional divide between Jammu and Kashmir regions as it is today as reflected in the poll results. Omar is first CM of J and K to face this challenge," said a member of National Knowledge Commission (NKC) and former vice chancellor of Jammu university, Prof Amitabh Mattoo.

Electoral results have shown a huge divide between the regions due to polarisation in the wake of the two-month Amarnath yatra land controversy. Divisive politics also divided south and central Kashmir on city(NC) versus village(PDP) lines, analysts said.

BJP, which had won just one seat in 2002 in Nagrota in Jammu district was second in 5 constituencies, put up a stunning show winning 11 seats and was second in 13 segments.

In 1996, BJP had won 8 seats in the Jammu region. PDP held sway over rural voters and swept south Kashmir bagging 12 out of 16 seats in Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts.

With its base in Srinagar, the state's summer capital, NC swept 13 out of 15 seats in central Kashmir reflecting a divide between urban and rural voters on party lines.

NC had only 8 seats in 2002 out of 15 while 4 were bagged by PDP and 3 by independents in 2002 elections as urban voters voted for NC in Srinagar city giving it 8 seats.