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After years of ambiguity, Jammu and Kashmir is all set to vote for its new government in the assembly elections. The region will go to polls on Wednesday in the first phase of the election.
The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Election is not only historical in many ways but will also be one of the major fights that political parties, be it BJP or Congress, will be facing after the Lok Sabha elections.
From the BJP to the National Conference, both national and regional parties are geared up to form the next possible government in the region after a hiatus of 10 years. Jammu and Kashmir is likely to flip a new page in its political affairs after October 8, the day results will be announced.
The region, a strategic one due to its location and a treasure trove of resources, has been rife with tension both historically and in contemporary times. Delayed elections only exacerbated the situation after the region lost its statehood in 2019.
The first phase of elections will be contested by as many as 219 candidates from 24 assembly constituencies, 16 in Kashmir and eight in Jammu.
Here’s everything that went down politically in the past 10 years.
A divided election result
The last time the region saw an assembly election was in 2014.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWhile elections this year will be wrapped up in three phases, in 2014, the polls were held in five phases.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party rose to power in India that year, it also made inroads into J&K’s political landscape but not without the help of a regional party.
Back then, J&K was still a state and was governed by National Conference’s Omar Abdullah. But during the elections, NC broke its alliance with Congress, costing it the elections.
Meanwhile, the BJP and People’s Democratic Party made significant advancements in terms of winning seats, but not enough to form government alone. So, both parties pulled a shocker and allied.
After losing the elections, Abdullah resigned from his post. But BJP and PDP had not yet decided on the chief ministerial candidate due to which the state was put under the President’s rule for some time.
In March 2015, PDP’s Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took oath as the new chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. His rule, however, was short-lived as he died the next year.
Sayeed’s daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, took over her father’s reins and was appointed as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir under the PDP-BJP government.
The collapse of PDP-BJP alliance
Perhaps a BJP-PDP alliance was too good to be true. After months of internal struggle, the coalition finally broke off in 2018.
The catalyst of this break-up might have been the death of Burhan Wani, a popular Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist commander, by Indian security forces in July 2016. His killing triggered widespread protests across Kashmir.
The two allied parties were not on the same page about Burhan’s death as protests killed several people.
There was also indifference within the PDP and BJP about the government’s handling of the deadly protests.
Finally, in 2018, the BJP pulled out of the coalition, forcing Mufti to resign from the CM post and paving the way to Governor’s rule.
This year, Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija Mufti is in a direct contest with BJP’s Sofi Mohammad Yousuf in Srigufwara-Bijbehara.
While in Jammu, PDP’s Imtiyaz Shan will be facing BJP’s Daleep Singh Pariha and NC’s Pooja Thakur.
Abrogation of Article 370
The most momentous moment in Jammu and Kashmir’s politics possibly since its accession to India post-Independence was the abrogation of Article 370.
Something that is being debated even today, BJP in 2019, did away with J&K’s special status, stripping it of its statehood and evoking strong reactions from across the world.
The period after the abrogation of 370 was marked by arrests of political leaders including Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, a communication blackout and widespread protests.
The topic has become a significant issue in this year’s elections too. Abdullah, on Tuesday, said that the abrogation of Article 370 was a parliamentary decision and not one taken by God, hinting that it can be reversed anytime.
The election that hinted support for regional players
To say that J&K has not seen any election since 2019 is inaccurate. In 2020, the region underwent the District Development Council (DDC) elections, the first major electoral process since the abrogation of Article 370.
In 2019, as a result of the popular movement against the BJP-ruled central government, the regional parties, PDP, NC and others formed the Gupkar Alliance.
This alliance won the DDC elections, signaling the public’s support for regional parties. The BJP, however, emerged as the single largest party, primarily in the Jammu region.
Delimitation process
After the bifurcation of J&K and Ladakh into two Union Terretories came the Demarcation Process of 2022.
As calls for holding the next assembly elections in the region rose, the Demarcation Commission submitted its report recommending ways to clearly delimit the two UTs.
As a result, six more assembly constituencies were added to Jammu and one to Kashmir.
In 2014, 87 assembly constituencies went to poll while this year 90 seats will be contested among candidates.
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