After a hiatus of more than three years, political activities are back in Kashmir. After the government pressed its election machinery into action, Kashmir-based unionist political parties resumed their activities. Even though the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not released dates for the election to Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, the election preparations are underway.
Inclusion of Non-local Voters in Kashmir’s Election
The ECI has begun the revision of electoral rolls and the process is expected to be completed by the end of October this year.
The chief electoral officer of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Hirdesh Kumar had last month informed that non-locals who are staying temporarily in Jammu and Kashmir can also register as voters. Non-locals who are staying in for the purpose of education, business, employment, and labour are eligible for voting in J&K assembly elections. Armed forces personnel, stationed at peace stations in Kashmir are also eligible to vote.
The announcement by the chief electoral officer has created a buzz in J&K Union Territory. Kashmir-based regional parties have called the new voters “imported” voters of the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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Controversial Delimitation Exercise in Kashmir
Earlier, the BJP-led central government had carried out the process of delimitation in J&K. The delimitation commission created seven new constituencies. Further, it also changed boundaries of several constituencies.
Kashmir-based politicians criticised the exercise as the delimitation commission gave Hindu-majority Jammu region a disproportionate number of seats. The act was aimed at bringing Jammu’s electoral representation to par with Muslim -the majority Kashmir region. The delimitation exercise is carried out so that there is an equal number of voters in all constituencies. However, this was not the case in the recently held delimitation in J&K.
The main aim of the delimitation exercise in J&K was to make sure that the number of Muslim and Hindu legislative (or Kashmir and Jammu-based) members in J&K’s assembly is almost equal.
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Political Activities Resume in Kashmir
After senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from the Congress party and announced to launch of a new party, political activities resumed in J&K. Several Jammu, as well as Kashmir-based senior political leaders, joined Azad.
Azad has held several rallies in Kashmir as well as in Jammu. He has not formally launched his party but has announced that he will launch it in the coming days. Since several senior politicians have joined Azad, his party will upset electoral equations for Kashmir-based parties.
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BJP in Election Mode
Meanwhile, BJP is also in election mode. The president of India recently nominated a prominent Gujjar Muslim leader, Ghulam Ali Khatana, to the Upper House of the parliament. The BJP has made this move to woo the tribal community of Gujjar and Bakerwals. The tribal community forms the third largest ethnic group in J&K, after Kashmiri Muslims and Dogras.
The announcement of the revival of Village Defence Committees (now known as VDGs) by the central government has also come just before the elections. People in Jammu villages where VDGs are present will keep this into consideration while voting.
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Kashmir-based Parties Missing from Campaign
What is surprising is that Kashmir’s two old parties- National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) seem to be missing from the campaign. These two parties have not been in news recently. The only announcements coming from them are through their social media channels.
Meanwhile, Altaf Bukhari’s recently formed party, Apni party, has been campaigning for some time now. The party has been calling for early elections ever since its launch. It has also promised to bring in several meaningful schemes for the people of J&K.
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The Dilemma for Kashmir-based Parties
This election in J&K is going to be different. The discourse and the narrative in Kashmir have changed. Kashmir-based parties will need to adopt a new vocabulary. Soft separatism, which many Kashmir-based parties used to employ in past election campaigns will not be acceptable this time. It will neither be acceptable to the central government nor will the people of Kashmir buy it.
One thing is sure, Kashmir-based parties will heavily rely on the promises of the restoration of statehood. Some parties, including NC and PDP, will go a step further to call for the restoration of autonomy or Article 370.
However, people will not buy the campaign around Article 370 restoration. As Azad has also made it clear that he will not focus on the restoration of Article 370. People also know that restoration of autonomy is impossible now.
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No Boycott Campaigns
This election will also be different in the sense that there will be no boycott calls. Most of the senior separatist leaders died while others are in jail. Further, the India government has banned all separatist-leaning organisations.
With new players, new constituencies, new voters and new discourse, the J&K Legislative Assembly elections are going to be interesting.
