Jammu and Kashmir is at a crossroads as it waits for outcome of the Assembly elections in the Union Territory . It is on an unchartered territory as it looks beyond government formation . In the current situation , the government in this UT would have not meaning more than a mere decoration of the elected representatives . The only consolation will be that it is for the first time in the past over six years that J&K will have an elected government as it will have no powers to govern and deliver. All the powers are vested with the Central government appointed Lieutenant Governor So, practically , it is going to be continuation of the federal rile , with the elected Assembly being an embellished institution passing as a democratically elected legislative body.
Then what was the fight for? All the major parties , particularly National Conference of Abdullah’s , PDP of Mufti’s , and the national party BJP fought it hard to win a majority. NC entered into an alliance with Congress , the grand old national party with which the premier regional party has had sweet-sour relations over the decades beginning since 1947 .Knowing that the elected Assembly in 2024 in the Modi era will have no consequential powers , these parties were fighting to prove their ideological strength. For them symbolism was full of substance .
The litmus test for these parties was to ascertain where they stood after the abrogation of Article 370 which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the state that now stands bifurcated into two union territories. BJP believed that this action of its government on August 5, 2019 , had removed all the legal and constitutional hurdles in integration of the state, though in two different geographical and ethnic entities , with the rest of the country which was hanging in balance ever since the day of accession of the princely state in October 1987. The accession signed by the last Dogra king Maharaja Hari Singh on October 26, 1947 , in the wake of the Pakistan invasion of the state, left many questions unanswered as how to view Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian Union. It had acceded to the country, but it was still a distinct entity . BJP since its original incarnation as Jan Sangh ,had been opposed to the idea of separate constitution , head of the state and flag for J&K, which it believed ran against the idea of the national sovereignty an integrity .
BJP was thorough in its campaign . It had added subchapters to the main goal of abolishing Article 370 and 35 A , which gave special status and privileges to the state and its permanent residents.. The change in the status was used as an all-out assault on terrorism and its ecosystem that had become bane for the state and which also cast its shadow over the national security. So . it moved lock , stock and barrel against terrorism visible on the surface or beneath in Kashmir, consolidating the impression that one of the major objectives of having peace in the region stood accomplished . It, in turn, was related to the constitutional integration of the region to the rest of the country. Its overdose was sold in the national elections and several states , projecting itself as a party that had done what was unthinkable and which others dreaded to traverse .
The regional parties of Kashmir were determined to showcase that their fight was for the identity and dignity of their people which had been violated with their identity mark – Article 370 . They viewed and articulated that the specials tatus and privileges were not a charity to them, but an outcome of the serious negotiations as part of the instrument of accession . Now the real verdict as they see is in the number of seats and votes which they will win . The irony, however, is that within the regional parties landscape , each one of them fought separately though claiming that they were on the same page on the issue of identity and dignity ., thus diluting their own strength. It is also a well—founded argument that some of the individuals and smaller parties were working at the behest of BJP by posing as a champion of the Kashmiri cause just to cut into the votes of the traditional parties, which people identified with the guardians of the Article 370
As the vote counting will start tomorrow -October 8 morning – the fact will merge as to which side had emerged victorious . The catch is that the government formation is just one of the consequences of the Assembly polls held for the first time in a decade . The wider outcome is in narratives. BJP promised Hindu chief minister from Jammu region that galvanized its campaign in the Hindu heartland , the dividends of which were seen in the enthusiasm among the voters in Jammu whose sole purpose to stand in queue was to have a “ Hindu chief minister.”. The BJP is aware of the ground realities that translating this slogan into reality will run into a series of risks in the Muslim majority J&K . It will have to justify that it meant it . On the other hand, the regional partied will have to find convincing answers to tell their people that they have made a point through their vote, but what next is not clear to themselves too.
| 
