JK News Today Commentary
The Election Commission of India has done what all it could do to promise early Assembly elections to Jammu and Kashmir but left the dates and phases to be decided once it gets feedback on the security situation and the availability of security forces. It meant that the ECI doesn’t want any potential uncertainty to crop in because of one or the other reason.
It is going to be the most prestigious Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir . It is much more than the firsts which have been counted so far- first after the abrogation of Article 370 that has made all the doubts of its status and position in the country a thing of the past ; that it is for the first time it will be held after a long-gap of nearly six years – the assembly last elected in November-December 2014 was dissolved in November 2018 , and the last elected government of PDP-BJP collapsed in June 2018 . Other firsts which surface is the for the first time Scheduled Tribes will have nine seats reserved for them, and icing on the cake is that Paharis too will be able to avail the benefits of the reservation , West Pakistan Refugees, Valmikis too would be partners in electing the MLAs .
These may seem ordinary things in the rest of the country, but this is unique in J&K, which for decades lived in a sense of self-belief , chasing illusions and besmirching the reality .
The most important part of the Assembly elections is that it will confer a unique status on the people of the union territory, who have said goodbye to the disruptive forces both within and outside of their land. Pakistan has been shown its place. There was not even a single pro-Pak or pro-Azadi demonstration in any part of J&K since the abrogation of Article 370 . Two major factors have played a crit9cal role , the people have seen a certainty in their life, they go to their work places, enjoy their family life without any disturbances coming their way . That’s how the democratic landscape and temper has been developed in Jammu and Kashmir . It has reached a take-off point .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised this in the initial days after the abrogation of Article 370 , and he reiterated it in Srinagar on June 20 when he was there to take part in the International Yoga Day on June 21.. Within a day after the PM’s announcement that “ poll preparations were underway ,” the ECI announced the electoral roll revision , which will be made public on August 20, to enable all the voters to enroll them. No voter should be left behind.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar at a press conference in Jammu on Friday at the conclusion of the ECI’s two-day visit of the Union Territory was all smiles and told the people of Jammu and Kashmir what they had been longing to hear for years now that the Assembly elections will be held in their land and they would get the opportunity to elect their own government. To be honest the ECI was doing no favours to the people of the Union Territory as it is their democratic right to have their elected government , and the primary responsibility for conducting the polls lies with ECI . But the fact is that the right time for the elections has arrived , that’s what he meant .
It’s better late than never, because the skepticism had spread so fast all over the land that the Assembly elections may never visit them .. Some of these were apprehensive that since the ruling party BJP was weighing its own chances of huge success at the polls to validate the scrapping of Article 370 , and until then it would not venture into poll arena . Sceptics were also active in floating the ideas that the bureaucracy blessed with unbridled powers with no accountability to political powers would not like dilution of its powers.
There were some genuine and practical considerations too; the legal formalities too had to be completed before the announcement of the polls, and then there is a a security concern . The Election Commission had to be sure-footed to make the polls a credible exercise. There is a lot at stake this time beyond the holding of the polls . The polls could have been held but without the genuine ways and means , it would have left many doubts in trail.
The ECI , in all its wisdom , went in for the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country only to be greeted with a surprise that enthusiastic voters had voted beyond expectations and made a history. Now again there is an opportunity for them to script new chapters of history to welcome democracy with open arms .
