Team Modi puts its foot on the gas to ensure BJP’s stellar performance in J&K as assembly polls could be around the corner

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, India’s independence day, this year that assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir would be held in near future, it sent pleasing waves to the people of J&K with a renewed sense of anticipation of an elected government taking the reigns of the politically reorganised region. 

The formation of a government at the legislative level means the revival of the democratic phenomenon of elections at the highest stratum in the new union territory after the historic revocation of Article 370 in August 2019. The seeds of this revival were sown when the District Development Council (DDC) elections were held in December 2020. 

As it stands, the delimitation exercise in J&K is scheduled to be completed within the first quarter of 2022 with the number of seats in the J&K assembly likely to go up to 90 from the current tally of 83. An unprecedented parity in the political representation between two regions, a long-overdue aspiration of the Jammu division, is finally appearing on the horizon.  

image source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The Centre aims to see J&K going to polls in March-April next year, immediately after the UT’s electoral arithmetic in terms of the strength of the legislative assembly is altered through delineation of fresh boundaries of the constituencies by virtue of the delimitation activity. Five other states - Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa - are also slated to hold elections around the same period. 

The subcontinent’s escalated vulnerability to terrorism in the aftermath of the Pakistan-backed Taliban’s taking over of Afghanistan, following the botched up withdrawal of American troops from the Afghan soil courtesy of the Biden administration, has posed a potential threat to India’s internal security and to that of other regional countries. Consequently, the Modi government wants to stay cautious of Pakistan’s sinister designs, which predictably will also feature the Taliban, to sabotage peace and harmony in Kashmir. 

Senior government officials, as well as BJP leaders, have maintained that restoring the electoral process in J&K at the earliest, which allows an elected government to run the show, serves in the best interest of the region from a security perspective. Cognizant of the fluid security dynamics after the Afghanistan development, the Government of India is vehemently endeavouring to ensure that the target of pushing J&K into polls within the estimated time frame, i.e. March-April 2022, is met.  

The big push 

BJP’s poll preparations in J&K received a strong impetus following PM Modi’s Independence Day speech in August. The party has put its foot on the gas as it gears up for a high-octane electoral showdown in the UT. Under the Prime Minister’s leadership, the BJP has launched a massive outreach programme in J&K to maximise its chances of emerging with a stellar performance in the election. 

According to media reports, the Modi government has dedicated more than 60 ministries to the task of visiting J&K in the next three months in order to develop a robust party-voter connection. This blueprint is also aimed at apprising the people of the region of the several progressive and developmental schemes and plans that a BJP government will undertake if the party is voted into power by J&K’s electorate. 

Creating a conducive atmosphere of communication with the public has in essence been the hallmark of the Centre’s scheme of things ever since the special status of the erstwhile state of J&K was scrapped in August 2019. Just a few months following the momentous development, the Government of India assigned the task of touching base with the people of J&K to several ministries as a confidence-building measure. Shortly after the culmination of this year’s monsoon session of the parliament, as many as 300 MPs representing 13 different parliamentary committees reported visited multiple locations in Kashmir and held several rounds of meetings. 

image source : dnaindia.com

There also remains a point to prove for the BJP that it will not be deterred at all despite its workers and regional leaders having been constantly living under the terror radar in recent years. Several party representatives have had to pay the ultimate price for standing up for the Indian democracy and for fearlessly expressing their nationalistic views. 

Notwithstanding a looming threat of life at the hands of radical Islamic terrorists, the party’s J&K unit is upbeat about the idea of elections in the UT and would be looking to leave no stone unturned in the run-up to the polls. 

Separatists jaded, advantage BJP 

The picture is crystal clear. Team Modi deems this to be the most opportune phase to present itself as a viable political alternative for J&K from a governance standpoint. The mojo of the valley’s separatist lobby has constantly diminished after the Naya Jammu and Kashmir came into existence owing to the revocation of Article 370. More recently, the death of the quintessential secessionist and pro-Pakistan voice in Kashmir for decades - Syed Ali Shah Geelani - served as a body blow to the Hurriyat. 

It makes for a sorry state of affairs for all the forces that are pitted against the Modi government as obnoxious challengers of the idea of a unified India with Jammu and Kashmir as its crown. The blues faced by the Pakistan-backed separatist industry coupled with the ever so weakening fortitude of the once-mighty regional political leadership, the Abdullahs and the Muftis that perpetually object to Kashmir’s complete integration with India, leave the BJP with a great opportunity to capitalise on. 

image source : frontline.thehindu.com

As per popular belief, the UP election is a crucial precursor of the mega battle for the Low Sabha in 2024, which in many ways is true to a large extent. However, the assembly polls of the J&K UT carry tremendous weightage given the metamorphosis that the region’s political landscape has gone through since 2019. PM Modi and the BJP are well aware of this fact. 

The battle for the J&K assembly is so much about nationalism vs separatism rather than merely being a competition for votes. It is only the triumph of nationalism over separatism that can propel J&K into an era of long-term peace, stability and development, which is exactly the vision Team Modi will carry going into the J&K polls.