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| Governor's rule appears inevitable in J&K | | Calling the bluff | | Rustam
JAMMU, Sept 15: Governor's rule in the flood-ravaged Jammu & Kashmir appears almost inevitable, as it would be impossible for the Election Commission to hold elections in the state in November-December. Elections could be held either in spring or early summer next year. Things might settle to an extent by then. Elections in the state are held at regular intervals. It was only once when the state remained without a popularly-elected government for more than a year. Between January 1990 and October 1996, the state remained under Governor's/President's rule. Yes, there used to be complaints for some time that certain political forces subverted the electoral processes by taking recourse to rigging, but we have not really come across a similar reports since 2002, when the electorate gave a fractured verdict for the first time. That year, the newly-founded PDP also performed exceptionally well in Kashmir by winning 17 seats and the NC suffered the first ever massive defeat. It could win only 28 out of 87 seats and stayed out of power for six years. It was the PDP, which in alliance with the Congress, JKNPP, CPI-M and People's Democratic Forum (PDF), formed government in the state.
More importantly, the participation of the electorate in the electoral exercises was satisfactory considering the fact that the secessionist violence had gripped the Valley and parts of Jammu province. The voting percentage was nearly 54 in 1996, 43 in 2002 and as high as 61 in 2008. The state also witnessed a higher voting percentage in the just-held Lok Sabha elections. The people's participation was quite impressive, notwithstanding the separatists' boycott call and the threat to their life and limb.
This should call the bluff of those who say day-in and day-out that the Kashmiri Muslims have little or no faith in the Indian electoral system or political system. It should also establish that extremists like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who repeatedly sought to achieve "azadi" from India through boycott calls didn't carry any conviction with the people. They were ineffective in 1996, 2002, 2008 and March-May, 2014 and they would be shown their rightful place in the Assembly elections whenever held.
Now that it is almost certain that elections would be delayed by a few months, it would be only appropriate for political parties in the state to do all that they could to bring the life back on the track as soon as possible. They would do well to take into consideration the miseries of the people, instead of batting for polls in November-December. |
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