On August 5, 2019, Article 370 was abolished from Jammu and Kashmir and it was declared a Union Territory. Before that, assembly elections were last held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, and even after the abolition of statehood, 5 years have passed when assembly elections were not held. However, elections like Lok Sabha and DDC have been conducted.
Regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir have been demanding restoration of statehood before the assembly elections, whereas the central government has been in favor of restoration of statehood after the elections. Before the elections could be held, there was a long wait for the delimitation process.
Now that preparations for holding elections are almost complete, leaders like Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, who were chief ministers in the old system, are pointing towards maintaining complete distance. Omar Abdullah has been saying such things since the beginning. Omar Abdullah had definitely contested the Lok Sabha elections, but he himself lost.
Election preparations have started in Jammu and Kashmir
From August 8, 2024, the Election Commission team is going on a three-day tour of Jammu and Kashmir. During this time, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir will be reviewed, and efforts will also be made to know and understand whether the conditions are suitable for holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir or not. And if the situation warrants holding elections, what kind of special requirements may be required.
During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, things have emerged that the election process should be done within the deadline set by the Supreme Court, and such preparations should be made by the Election Commission. Already underway.
In 2020, a year after the abolition of Article 370, BJP leader Manoj Sinha was made the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, the purpose of handing over the command to Manoj Sinha in place of LG Girish Chandra Murmu was to create an election-worthy environment in the state – and now the time has come when election preparations in Jammu and Kashmir are in the final phase.
The matter of concern is that terrorist activities have not ended yet. Shah Faesal, an IAS topper from Jammu and Kashmir, had once expressed serious concern that it was not right to get support to terrorism at the local level. It was also once stated by the Army that terrorist activities may not have been completely controlled, but the shelf-life of new terrorists has reduced to less than a year. That is, if a youth starts following the path of terrorism, he gets 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 this happen by September?
Manoj Sinha said, it is not possible that elections will not be held in India… Elections must be held.
And then quoting the words of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he says, when the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act was passed in the Parliament, the Home Minister said three things… The first was, delimitation… People often All this is said in political tone, but clearly, the real thing is that elections cannot be held without delimitation… and this is a long process… The Delimitation Commission under the leadership of Justice Ranjana Desai visited Jammu and Kashmir thrice. , Political parties also met the Commission in Delhi… finally the report also came… after that assembly elections. The Election Commission is now visiting the Union Territory.
The Lieutenant Governor also reminds that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on the tour of Jammu and Kashmir, he had also said that the elections would be held as soon as possible… There should be no doubt about the elections.
Of course, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have also 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 being performed as a formality. Is going to.
Strange trends have started emerging even before the elections
The Indian Express has recently spoken to Manoj Sinha, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, and everyone’s stand has come out from the newspaper’s report. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has agreed for 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 for sure… because everything is uncertain and mysterious.’
And Mehbooba Mufti’s ally PDP leader Naeem Akhtar also takes his point forward, ‘Whoever will be the representatives, they will be in the role of mediator between the Lieutenant Governor and the people. They will be able to collect 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 if 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 staying away from electoral politics for some time. Both the parties took part in the Lok Sabha elections.
Like other states of the country, both Mufti and Abdullah have been the target of BJP leadership for the politics of dynasticism. Shah Faesal has also given up political activities and returned to administrative service. After resigning from IAS, Shah Faesal 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 appears 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, Ghulam, who was in Congress for a long time. Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party.
From the words of Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, it seems that after the assembly elections, they are fearing a Delhi-like situation in Jammu and Kashmir also. 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 apprehensions of the leaders of Jammu and Kashmir do not seem unfounded.
The way the enthusiasm of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was shown in the Lok Sabha elections, it seems that they are also waiting for the elections, but Engineer Rashid becoming MP as an independent candidate and Omar Abdullah losing the election are giving many signals. It has been said that it should be accepted that the thoughts of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will definitely be revealed through the assembly elections.