JK News Today special
Jammu, December 17:
For the first time in history of Jammu and Kashmir, development versus development has emerged as campaign issue in the ongoing District Development Council Polls , which are also being held for the first time in the Himalayan Territory .
This is what was aimed at when Home Minister Amit Shah said that he had the vision for J&K, where a culture of neglect of the basic needs of the people had caused huge problems for the people , as they suffered in silence as their grievances regarding the basic necessities were dumped under political slogans of elusive goals.
In fact, the DDC elections that will conclude on December 19, and the results of which would be available on December 22 , tell a story of many firsts .
One, these polls are being held for the first time for 280 seats – 14 each across 30 districts of J&K- giving a sense of equality to the peoples of all the places . It is also for the first time that so many candidates have come forward to contest the polls.
The participation of the people in the polling has been unprecedented as compared to all the previous elections. The participation is high not only in terms of the people who have voted, but the enthusiasm with which they have accorded welcome to the polls and taken part in the rallies .
Even when the political parties tried to inject their political agendas in clash of narratives of their rivals , the development’s discourse remained on the course. The arguments in the debates , ‘ Who did the development and who didn’t . and when the development took place or not ,” was a positive sign that emerged in the campaign . It underlined the importance of development in the discourse because everyone knew that without this, the campaign would not be accepted by the people .
This has generated a hope that the elected representatives in these polls would have to live up to their promise otherwise they would face wrath of the people . The government has made it clear that there is no scope of escape from the accountability as the previous system in which corruption flourished has been dismantled.
This is unique contribution of Amit Shah to Jammu and Kashmir where grassroots democracy has been strengthened on a permanent basis with all its accountability clauses in place.
