Editorial: Return Of Democracy In Jammu and Kashmir

The coming Assembly poll in Jammu and Kashmir later next month will be the first to be held after the virtual abrogation of its special status under the always-controversial Article 370. The two main parties in the region, the National Conference and the Peoples’ Democratic Party, are in disarray. The NC leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah has had a quick change of heart. After declaring a few weeks earlier that he would not contest the poll, he has since changed his mind and will contest from his old seat, Ganderwal. Maybe he has felt encouraged to contest following his party’s alliance with the Congress Party. But how the alliance partners will resolve the clear and public contradiction in their stand on the abrogation of Article 370 remains unclear. The NC is committed to pass a resolution in the Assembly, should it come to power, to recommend its re-instatement. Whereas the Congress is non-committal due to its national compulsions. The seat-sharing agreement between the two would see the Congress contest a majority of the seats in the Jammu region while the NC will concentrate on the Muslim-majority Valley. In other words, there could be a direct fight between the BJP, which has a strong base in Jammu, and the Congress in most of the seats. As for the other regional party, the PDP, its electoral fortunes have been in doldrums ever since it had teamed up with the BJP to form the government with Mehbooba Mufti as chief minister. The alliance hurt the PDP more than the BJP which has been quick to regain its base in Jammu. The position of the Congress rebel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had formed his own party too is uncertain. Of late, he has been keeping indifferent health, but reports indicate that his newly formed outfit too may contest a few seats. All in all, the resumption of democratic activity in Jammu and Kashmir augurs well for the return of normalcy to the troubled Valley, though the Centre may have to take additional steps to check terrorist attacks in the run-up to the polls, especially since the Jammu region has witnessed several such incidents in recent weeks.

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