The first democratic political exercise in Jammu & Kashmir since the Centre stripped it of its special status and downgraded it from a state to two Union Territories (the other being Ladakh) has thrown up interesting results. While the valley has spoken unambiguously in favour of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), the constituents of which include the National Conference, the People’s Democratic Party, the J&K People’s Conference, as also the CPI (M), among others, the Hindu-dominated Jammu region has gone mostly with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Though the District Development Councils wield little political power, they have been conceived as the link between the people and the government in J&K, in the absence of an assembly. Earlier, the District Development Boards looked after the planning, approval or implementation of the schemes sponsored by the Centre. The board functioned under an elected MP, MLA and an MLC and the deputy commissioner and was headed by a cabinet minister. Under the new system, the DDCs will be headed by a chairman from an elected representative.
Set to become a new layer of governance in the UT, the DDCs will oversee the functioning of Halqa Panchayats and block development councils. The bodies, which are expected to prepare and approve district plans and capital expenditures, will replace the District Planning and Development Boards in all districts. Each DDC will have 14 directly-elected members; and five standing committees will be constituted for finance, development, public works, health and education and welfare.
Even though the DDCs’ election was a local body election, both the BJP and the PAGD had turned it into a referendum on those decisions. When the BJP’s apparent expectation of a boycott by the regional parties did not come true and, instead, its prospects of sweeping the Union territory diminished further with their decision to fight the elections together as the PAGD, none other than Union Home Minister Amit Shah lashed out at them as the ‘Gupkar gang’, who marched to a ‘foreign’ tune – the allusion being to Pakistan. Another Central minister, Anurag Thakur, was sent to oversee the party’s campaign. Allegedly, true to BJP’s style, a lot of resources went into electioneering. The PAGD based its campaign on an appeal seeking rejection of all that the Centre has done in J&K over the last year and a half and as support for its own demand that special status and statehood be restored.
Orchestrated attempts
The PAGD’s performance is all the more credible because of all the obstacles that were thrown in its path and the efforts made to discredit it in the eyes of the voters. The manner in which the administration brandished names of senior PAGD leaders in the Roshini Act land scam ahead of the elections, the ED’s actions against NC leader Farooq Abdullah, the arrest of PDP’s star mobiliser Waheed Para, detaining candidates ‘for their own security’ thus effectively ensuring they could not campaign, were all too apparent, orchestrated attempts by the Centre to control the election outcome.
To their credit, the Gupkar alliance held firm against the strong-arm tactics. On the other hand, the BJP has been talking up its emergence as the single-largest party and its win in three seats in the valley
To their credit, the Gupkar alliance held firm against the strong-arm tactics. On the other hand, the BJP has been talking up its emergence as the single-largest party and its win in three seats in the valley. But what counts in these elections is winning the districts. The PAGD is set to control the councils of at least nine out of 10 districts in Kashmir and perhaps a few of the 10 in Jammu, provided the Congress, independents and smaller parties are willing. Also, provided that there is no horse-trading that has become the bane of post-election scene in India.
The results should serve as a wake-up call for the Union home ministry, which controls the goings on in J&K now: people in the valley still haven’t got over the abolition of Article 370. This situation calls for much political accommodation. The Centre must build upon it and hold assembly elections at the earliest.
As the ruling party at the Centre, the BJP must refrain from trying to engineer cross-overs in its favour, especially as the anti-defection act does not apply to the DDCs. There has been praises for the manner in which the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, a former telecom minister, handled the situation and the election results are seen as a fair reflection of the popular will. Now, his real work begins. He will have to ensure that the mandate is respected in letter and spirit.