On August 5, 2019, Article 370 was repealed from Jammu and Kashmir and it was declared a Union Territory. Before that, the last assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, and even after the state status was revoked, 5 years have passed since the assembly elections were not held. However, elections like Lok Sabha and DDC have been held.
The regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir have been demanding restoration of statehood before the assembly elections are held, while the central government has been in favour of restoring statehood after the elections. The process of delimitation also had to wait a long time before the elections were held.
Now that the preparations for holding the elections are almost complete, leaders like Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, who were Chief Ministers in the old system, are hinting at keeping a complete distance. Omar Abdullah has been saying such things since the beginning. Omar Abdullah did contest the Lok Sabha elections, but he himself lost.
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Preparations for elections have started in Jammu and Kashmir
The Election Commission team is going on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir from August 8, 2024. During this, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir will be reviewed, and efforts will also be made to know and understand whether the conditions in Jammu and Kashmir are suitable for holding elections or not. And if the situation is suitable for holding elections, then what kind of special requirements can be there.
During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, it has also come to light that the election process should be completed within the deadline set by the Supreme Court, and such preparations are already underway on the part of the Election Commission.
In 2020, a year after the abolition of Article 370, BJP leader Manoj Sinha was made the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The purpose of handing over the command to Manoj Sinha in place of the first LG Girish Chandra Murmu was to create an election-worthy atmosphere in the state – and now the time has come when election preparations in Jammu and Kashmir are in the final phase.
The worrying thing is that terrorist activities have not ended yet. Shah Faisal, an IAS topper from Jammu and Kashmir, had once expressed serious concern that it is not right for terrorism to get support at the local level. The army had also once said that even though terrorist activities have not been completely controlled, the shelf-life of new terrorists has come down to less than a year. That is, if a youth starts walking on the path of terrorism, he is killed in an encounter within a year.
In an interview, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was asked, are you fully prepared for the assembly elections? And will it happen by September?
Manoj Sinha said, it is not possible that elections will not be held in India… elections must be held.
And then citing the words of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he says, when the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act was passed in Parliament, the Home Minister had said three things… The first was delimitation… People often say all this in a political tone, but clearly, the fact is that elections cannot be held without delimitation… and this is a long process… The Delimitation Commission led by Justice Ranjana Desai came to Jammu and Kashmir three times, political parties also met the Commission in Delhi… Finally the report also came… After that the assembly elections. The Election Commission is now visiting the Union Territory.
The Lieutenant Governor also reminds that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir, he had also said that elections will be held as soon as possible… there should be no doubt about the elections.
Of course, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have spoken, Manoj Sinha is also saying this, and the Election Commission team is also visiting, but looking at the attitude of the regional leaders there, it seems as if some ritual is going to be performed as a formality.
Strange trends have started emerging even before the elections
The Indian Express has recently spoken to Manoj Sinha, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, and the newspaper’s report has revealed the stance of all of them. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has agreed to the elections, but leaders like Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti seem completely disappointed.
Mehbooba Mufti’s reaction on the issue of elections is, ‘It is impossible to say anything with certainty… because everything is uncertain and mysterious.’
And Mehbooba Mufti’s colleague PDP leader Naeem Akhtar also takes her point forward, ‘Whoever will be the representative, he will be in the role of mediator between the Lieutenant Governor and the public. He will be able to take applications from as many people as possible and send them to the LG.’
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah is neither going to contest the assembly elections, nor does he want to become the Chief Minister in case his party wins the elections. Omar Abdullah says, I cannot sit outside the Lieutenant Governor’s office… and ask him, Sir, I want to remove the DG, so please sign.
Like Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti is also saying that she is also thinking of keeping a distance from electoral politics for some time. Both their parties had participated in the Lok Sabha elections.
Like the rest of the country, both Mufti and Abdullah have been on the target of the BJP leadership for the politics of nepotism. Shah Faisal has also given up political activities and has returned to the administrative service. After resigning from the IAS, Shah Faisal also formed his own party in the name of Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement. His colleague Shehla Rashid has also returned to the field of education – and now she seems to be a BJP supporter.
After the abolition of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, two new political parties have also come into existence in the state – one, Altaf Bukhari’s ‘Apni Party’, and the other, Democratic Progressive Azad Party of Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was in Congress for a long time.
From the statements of Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, it seems that after the assembly elections, they are expressing the fear of a situation like Delhi in Jammu and Kashmir as well. The way the tug of war has been going on between the Lieutenant Governor and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi since the beginning, the fears of the leaders of Jammu and Kashmir do not seem to be baseless.
The way the people of Jammu and Kashmir showed enthusiasm in the Lok Sabha elections, it seems that they too are waiting for the elections, but Engineer Rashid becoming an MP as an independent candidate and Omar Abdullah losing the election are giving many indications – it should be believed that the Mann Ki Baat of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will definitely come to the fore through the assembly elections.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)