Nearly after 11-months polls are back in Kashmir as the J&K government has announced that Panchayat elections would be held next month. The last polling day in Kashmir witnessed a bloodbath as eight youth were killed during the by-polls held for Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary constituency in April 2017. Authorities claimed that youth, who were killed mostly across Budgam district were anti-poll protesters, and they were shot dead by the forces while maintaining law and order. The massive violence on the polling day had created ripples across Kashmir which led to the government delaying the by-polls for the Anantnag parliamentary constituency indefinitely.
By-polls in Srinagar-Budgam constituency witnessed a very low polling percentage and led to the National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah making a comeback. Dr Farooq had lost the same seat to PDP’s Tariq Hameed Kara in 2014 elections. The seat fell vacant after Kara resigned from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the Lok Sabha amidst 2016 unrest. He accused PDP of failing to handle the situation. During the unrest which lasted for nearly six months more than 95 people fell pretty to the bullets of government forces.
The sudden announcement of Panchayat polls took everyone by a surprise even the opposition parties. No one had expected that polls would be announced in a flash.
There are speculations that ruling PDP was intimidated by its coalition ally Bharatiya Janata Party to announce the Panchayat polls as the many saffron party leaders were of the opinion that Jammu is suffering because of Kashmir. |
The BJP leaders were of the opinion that due to Panchayat polls not being held in the state the Government of India has stopped requisite financial aid to J&K and crores of rupees have been withheld.
Till the recent past Jammu and Kashmir government was claiming that Panchayat polls cannot be held in the state as the situation is not conducive.
The BJP leaders, according to the media reports, had even moved a proposal that Panchayat polls should be held in Jammu and Ladakh regions so that these divisions would keep on receiving the central funds and other benefits. Finally PDP took a decision and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti announced the date of the Panchayat polls. Holding elections in Jammu and Ladkah regions is a cake walk for the government but to hold polls in Kashmir, especially in south Kashmir could prove to be a Herculean task. Situation in south Kashmir is far from normal. Even in winter months cordon and search operations and encounters are on in the volatile areas. Everyone knows it very well candidates in south Kashmir will hesitate to contest these polls as they fear that contesting these polls can put their lives at risk.
Anyway the state government is confident and is hoping that elections would end peacefully and the poll boycott call given by the separatists may not find many takers. It seems the PDP wants to test the waters and see whether granting amnesty to 5500 youth and announcing regularization of more than 60,000 daily wagers has worked or not.
Although Panchayat elections would be contested on non-partisan basis but the fact is that mostly workers of the political parties will contest these elections and later on they would be owned by their respective parties. Even the people know that contestants represent a particular party.
Usually Panchayat elections are a low key affair and the campaigning is confined within a particular area or a village. Police and security agencies are aware of the fact that contestants could face the heat and they have to be protected but the Police on many occasions have said that it’s not possible to provide security to all the Panchayat members. Contestants especially in volatile areas would have to take extra-precautions as the next 40-days are very crucial for them.
It would be interesting to see how people react to the situation. Last time more than 80% polling was recorded in Panchayat polls. This time around it remains to be seen how many people come out to vote and choose the representatives who can help them at grass root level.
If PDP succeeds in winning these elections it could prove to be a big morale booster for the party. On the other hand if NC candidates win it would indicate that NC is making a comeback and can turn the tables on PDP. For BJP also these polls are crucial as a notion is being created that BJP has lost its foothold in Jammu region where it won 25 out of 37 assembly seats in 2014 elections.
These polls are basically a trial ahead of 2019 parliamentary polls. The only concern is security of the candidates. If any violent incidents take place these polls would take a serious hit and can spoil the party.
(Javaid Malik is Senior Editor Greater Kashmir)