The Quit and Win Theory

That Omar Abdullah decides to quit following ‘allegedly false’ allegations of his involvement in the shocking sex scandal in J&K is understandable. But to contemplate on whether he is a ‘softy’ at heart and fit to rule the turbulent state of J&K is equally incomprehensible. We often forget that politicians and leaders possess a set of feelings too. Feelings when if stretched to an extreme, come back and sting, like a slingshot. But alas! Even Shiney Ahuja knows that being a public figure comes with a price tag. So what keeps Abdullah blissfully ignorant of this?
His emotional move has been called as one meant to uphold his honor and dignity. And why wouldn’t it be called so? Unlike many politicians who choose to remain silent on the face of truckloads of accusations made against them, Omar did something that has seldom been done by any minister. Along with upholding his dignity, he has also set a dangerous precedent to take the moral high ground. One can call it a case of young- blooded surge because the old and sagging are not capable of this. While Omar says he learnt to “expect the unexpected”, one can be sure opposition leader Beig learnt a similar lesson himself. So strong was the young CM’s reaction that the PDP leader had to backtrack on his remarks. Quitting on a mere allegation? Beig clearly didn’t see what hit him.
To think of it another way, it is a win-win situation for Abdullah. Assume he is one of the suspects on the ‘shame list.’ What may be the repercussions? He would be forced to resign his post, a statement that Beig already made in the Assembly. On the contrary, Abdullah decides to quit even before he has been proven guilty. That way, if he is innocent, he will be re-instated on his throne, just as he had left it. To say the least, many have been calling it a move to avoid ‘losing face.’ So true of the young being conscious of protecting their own image rather than thinking in the national interest. Couldn’t he have waited for the CBI to carry out its investigation or test the authenticity of the PDP’s statements? No. Omar evidently seems to have taken a shortcut to being seeded as ‘dignified’ in the political race.
The question is, where does this political chaos leave the state of J&K? Does a sensitive state like this need its share of political bickering? Now even as the opposition party leader Mehbooba Mufti cries foul at the CBI for shielding Omar, no one can deny that the meticulous mudslinging from both sides has put state crisis on the back burner. Why hamper the progress of the state and its governance by resorting to such gutter politics? There is no doubt that Abdullah’s decision was an imprudent one. But would it leave him perturbed about his or his party’s position? Well, whoever said that a quitter never wins will need to re-phrase the time-honored idiom.