By Ashok Bhan
People in Jammu and Kashmir feel the prolonged Governor rule is continuously depriving them of their legitimate fundamental right to vote and elect the representative government of their own. The right to democracy through elections is one of the basic inalienable rights of the citizens eligible to vote.
The Supreme Court has held that democracy is one of the inalienable basic features of the Constitution and forms part of its basic structure.
The concept of democracy as visualised by the Constitution pre-supposes the representation of the people in Parliament and State legislatures by the method of election. “As such the Governor rule is an exception and the elected representatives government is the rule,” the Court had said.
The Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was dissolved by the then Governor on November 21, 2018. It has been more than five years that the people have been deprived of their elected representation in the legislature. While it was almost a necessity for the Election Commission to consider holding elections to the legislature along with the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, the Commission didn’t. Announcing the dates for assmebly elections in four states, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar noted elections wree also due to held in Jammu and Kashmir.
After visiting the Union Territory, the ECI is expected to appreciate the ground situation and respect the mainstreaming mindset of the people. Kashmir “affairs” has a layered nature, obscured by distorted historical narratives, self-serving myths, and conflicting political interests.
The Kashmiris having rejected the politics of violence, separatism and bigotry expect that democracy is the only way forward to get Kashmir affairs out of the morass of death and destruction and live a peaceful and fearless life for the interests of future generations. Therefore urgently establishing a democratically elected representative government in the Union Territory has become imperative. The people expect that ECI has an opportunity to be one of the essential components in the broad peace and transformation process by holding assembly elections.
The stakes are very high for the People’s Conference which has got a new found confidence about its role and political space in Kashmir’s politics since 2019. Seeing itself as a direct adversary of the National Conference in this region, it is seeking to make a mark not only in northern Kashmir, its stronghold, but in all the Kashmir constituencies. To give a serious challenge to the NC, it is even seeking to enter alliance with Apni Party, a new party that is seeking to find its grounds in Kashmir. Apni Party has already declared its intention to be in the game by declaring its willingness to contest all the seats in Kashmir.
Also testing the grounds in this election would be Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP). For this party that has come out of the Congress, it will be its first election and its first opportunity to test its political claims at the ground. With its major area of action being located in Jammu region, it would be interesting to see its performance in this region, especially vis-a-vis the Congress.
The Congress on its part, is also in the race, but to what extent it can influence the electoral outcome, is anyone’s guess. With all its chances being there in Jammu region, it will be facing stiff competition not only from the BJP but also the DPAP.
In short, there is lot of interest in the ensuing parliamentary election in Jammu and Kashmir and one can expect an electorally surcharged environment here during the next couple of months.
Political parties have started strategising about their participation in parliamentary elections. Ever-prepared for elections, the BJP has already set in motion the process of electoral campaign by opening new offices and even starting the process of identifying the candidates. The Apni Party and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s DPAP have already declared their intention of contesting all five parliamentary seats. The Congress, NC, PDP and People Conference have all started focusing on election strategy.
Certainly with five seats, Jammu and Kashmir’s Lok Sabha share is too small to make any impact on the larger picture – Yet, the small number of seats notwithstanding, elections are considered crucial by the people and political parties for a number of reasons. The first and foremost reason being that this will be first big electoral exercise to take place in Jammu and Kashmir in the last few years.
After the last elected government was pulled down and Legislative Assembly was dissolved in the middle of 2018, there have not been many opportunities for the political parties to mobilise their supporters and for voters to vote. Even the grassroots elections (with the exception of District Development Council elections held in 2020) have been a rarity. The last Panchayat and Municipal elections took place in 2018.
It is in the situation of ‘no election’ that the Lok Sabha elections have assumed importance. For political parties having come to understand that earliest that the Assembly elections would take place would be after the Parliamentary elections are over, Lok Sabha elections have become an opportunity to test the political ground. More so, for its being the first major electoral exercise after the abrogation of the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and after the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir. The political performance of parties would provide some indication about their standing in the Assembly elections later.
Parliamentary elections are also important for another reason, the fresh carving of parliamentary constituencies with long term political consequences. Till 2019, Jammu and Kashmir had six constituencies. Two for Jammu region (Jammu and Udhampur constituency), three for Kashmir region (Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag) and one for Ladakh. After the reorganisation, the five seats have been so distributed that while Jammu region has retained its two seats of Jammu and Udhampur, it has got share in the third seat carved out of Anantnag seat of Kashmir region. Named Anantnag-Rajouri seat, this seat is shared between Jammu and Kashmir regions.
Anantnag-Rajouri has 11 Assembly segments from Kashmir region and 7 Assembly segments from Jammu region. The Assembly segments falling within the district of Poonch and Rajouri which were earlier part of Jammu Lok Sabha constituency (with the exception of Kalakote-Sundarbani) are now part of this new constituency.
A lot is being speculated as to what extent this newly-carved constituency is going to impact the political trends within Jammu and Kashmir. While for some political analysts, this constituency is going to work as a bridge between Jammu and Kashmir regions, for others, it is going to change the balance between the two regions. Whichever way the constituency goes, one thing is sure, it is going to be a very competitive election here with a number of parties seeking to test their political reach here.
On the whole, it is going to be a high-stakes election for a number of parties and this is already getting reflected in their approach towards election. For the BJP, the aspiration is to go beyond its stronghold of two constituencies in Jammu region and have a foothold in Kashmir region via Anantnag-Rajouri seat. This party has invested a lot in the Gujjar-Pahari constituency, initially by granting political reservation to the Gujjars as Scheduled Tribes and later by granting Scheduled Tribe status to the Paharis. By winning at least three seats in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP seeks to assert its potential in forming the government after Assembly election, alone or in alliance with another party.
Either way people in Jammu and Kashmir are ready to participate in the noise, din and hustle bustle of electioneering and celebrate the democracy with the hope of electing rightful representatives for the highest temple of democracy: the Parliament of India; and if given the opportunity and rights by ECI shall elect a representative people’s representative government of their own choosing.
—Ashok Bhan is Senior Advocate,
Supreme Court, a noted Kashmir affairs leader and is Chairman, Kashmir(Policy and Strategy) Group