PM creates level playing field for all political parties
JK News Today Commentary
Jammu, July 01:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised at the All-Party-Meeting in June 24 on Jammu and Kashmir that all the parties would be made part of the delimitation process and their suggestions would be given due weight . And on Wednesday , less than a week after the meet , came the announcement of the Delimitation Commission’s four-day visit to the UT beginning July 6 is the first big step towards first milestone toward fully democratizing J&K .
The best part of the visit is that the Delimitation Commission would be interacting with the political leaders to ascertain views of the political parties on the demarcation of the constituencies for the Assembly elections in the Union Territory . This is political imperativeness to give credibility to the process to make it truly indigenous. It will dispel all the rumours and speculations that the Delimitation was a unilateral move imposed on the people of J&K, particularly that of the Valley.
Prime Minister was always keen on the all-inclusive approach toward J&K and the rest of the country , for he has shown that this is not some political strategy but a way to win hearts and minds of the people , and that was the real reason for call the all-party -meet of the leaders who were once dubbed as perpetrators of corruption, dynastic rule and mis-governance . The politics has its own obligations. It was unimaginable that Modi who believes in the Indian ethos of “ Vasudev Kutambh “( the whole world is a single family) could leave Kashmir out of his outreach , plans and policies .
There is a political message too, that PM doesn’t want to force the BJP discourse in the Delimitation process and in the subsequent Assembly elections . He has created a level playing field for all the politics and their ideologies. That essence of the democracy is being played out in full measure in Jammu and Kashmir essentially in a sincere effort to break all the walls of suspicion and doubts that crept up following the scrapping of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
Now it is for the pollical parties of J&K to embrace this idea for their own benefit and that of their people . They are left with no excuse that they were not given an opportunity to express their views about the geography, topography, and value additions . The ball is in their court now . it is good that some of the parties have shown their keenness to join , and at the end of the day, it is hoped that all of them will join the deliberations to make the democratic process fruitful..
Home Minister Amit Shah , whose ministry looks after the Kashmir affairs and directly monitors the developments in the Union Territory , also reiterated the Government’s commitment to complete the delimitation process and thereafter to hold the Assembly elections at the earliest with the cooperation of one and all . It manifested the political intention of the Centre that it not playing any favourites in this.
As the things have started moving as a follow up to the APM , it would be wise on the part of the parties in J&K to heed and understand PM’s reality-oriented advice that no bureaucratic system can ever match or become substitute to the elected representatives.
