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It was hoped that the Jammu and Kashmir election would give the people of the militancy-hit a chance at a better life though there were those who were simply looking forward to the vicarious pleasure of witnessing the electoral rout of the National Conference.
But scores of bomb blasts, a spell of increased violence and 800-plus deaths later, the pleasure of seeing the NC's back is fast making way for anger, the very emotion that fueled militancy in the first place.
Kashmiris feel betrayed by the inability of the Congress and the People's Democratic Party to reach an understanding over government formation.
The politicking, the power games, the unrelenting stands of both the Congress and the PDP on the chief minister's post is not going down well with the populace.
"This is the real face of the politicians. Once they win, all they are bothered about is power, their egos and personal gains," said Muzaffar Shawl, a restaurant owner in Srinagar.
"We just saw a Chinar (a strong, gigantic tree found in Kashmir) like the NC being uprooted for its arrogance and disregard for the wishes of the people. Yet these people dare to fight like this over the chief minister's post," he said incredulously.
He said that both the parties were blind to people's message: do not take us for granted.
"They are insulting the people who voted in these elections," said Manzoor Ahmad (40), an agriculture department employee, from Anantnag.
"When they cannot even form a government, how can you trust them to fulfill the promises they made before the elections?" he asked.
The talks between the two have broken down on just one point: who will be the chief minister?
Arguing that it is a national party, the Congress says it can muster support both inside and outside Parliament for steps for the betterment of J&K.
"That would not be possible for the PDP," said state Congress chief Ghulam Nabi Azad.
But public memory is not as short as politicians would like to believe. People have not forgotten the way successive Congress governments dealt with the Kashmir issue.
"Was it not a Congress government that imprisoned Sheikh Abdullah for 22 years and installed puppet regimes, denying us real democracy," pointed out Mohammed Akram, a school teacher.
"Militancy took roots in the state after the Congress and the NC joined hands to rig the 1987 elections. What can you expect from them?" said Akram, a Srinagar resident.
It is this sentiment that PDP leader Mufti Mohammed Sayeed is banking on.
The Congress may be numerically stronger, but the verdict is for the PDP, its leaders argue. Only a regional party can provide the much-needed healing touch, they say.
The party is posturing itself as an alternative to the National Conference.
It used symbols with separatist and Islamic connotations during the election, its leaders spoke like separatists at public rallies and PDP vice-president Mehbooba Mufti has built a good rapport with the people by travelling extensively in the valley spreading her message of compassion.
The result - the three-year-old party won 16 seats, all in the valley.
"PDP should form the government. They promise to disband the Special Operations Group and take other steps to bring relief to Kashmiris," said Arshad Khan, a college student.
But not everyone is convinced. "How can Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, a former Union home minister of India, suddenly turn into a champion of Kashmir nationalism?" asked Gowhar Rasool, an unemployed engineering graduate from Anantnag.
People in Bijbehara, the PDP chief's hometown, remind you of an incident in the early nineties when security forces had fired on pro-freedom protestors killing more than 40 people during Sayeed's tenure as Union home minister.
Sayeed even oversaw the imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Kashmir, they point out.
"Now he talks about revoking the draconian laws," said Mohammed Khalil, a Bijbehara shopkeeper.
"No politician is interested in the people here. All they want is power, whatever the cost," added Rasool.
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