Updated: December 23, 2020 7:16:09 am
J&K DDC Polls: People queue to cast their votes in the Arath area of Budgam district on December 16, 2020 (Express photo: Shuaib Masoodi)
The restless politicking before the elections to the District Development Councils (DDC) – the ‘Gupkar Gang’ mockery of Amit Shah, selective leak now overridden Roshni Law beneficiaries and arrest of the president of the PDP youth wing Waheed To – did not abolish the process, results underlined on Tuesday. As expected, BJP took six of the 10 DDC in the Jammu Division, but it was the Gupkar Alliance victory in nine of the 10 DDC in the Kashmir Division that took place.
More than this result, it is the space that this democratic exercise has opened in the Territory of the Union, and particularly in the Valley, that is of importance. He has pushed the policy, inactive and blocked since August 5 of last year, when the state was divided and degraded and its special status abrogated. The Alliance members’ decision to challenge has been justified by the outcome.
The people of Kashmir will have representatives that people can turn to with their daily complaints and institutions whose doors they can knock on. Logon ki sunwai hogi (people will be heard), and funds will flow to these Councils based on the size of their population.
Other than that, the political message is clear.
The Jammu Division and the Kashmir Division still disagree, although Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha refers to them as the “two eyes” of the Union Territory. Jammu has voted according to the religious composition of its voters. The predominantly Hindu regions have overwhelmingly voted for the saffron party; in Poonch DDC, it was left blank and three in Rajouri, Ramban and Kishtwar.
The moderate voice of the National Conference appears to have drawn voters beyond the Valley. It has emerged as the largest party in three DDCs in the Jammu Division: Rajouri, Ramban and Kishtwar. If Congress enters into a post-election alliance with NC, the two can win a majority in all three. And in Poonch, the NC, the PDP, and Congress add up to half.
In any event, the alliance of five regional parties in the Union Territory has also opened up new possibilities and presented the BJP with a unique challenge: that of a united Opposition. Of the 20 DDCs, a united Opposition can have a voice in up to 13. This can give ideas to national parties fighting the rise of the BJP both in the states and in the Center.
The flip side of this bonsai democracy is also how large numbers of independent candidates can influence the outcome. In Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, of the 14 seats, the independents have won up to nine. With the center-backed J&K Apni party winning three, and the BJP one, technically, the Apni Party-BJP alliance can claim the DDC with the support of independents.
The DDC elections have also given the BJP a foothold in the Valley for the first time. That the party wins a seat in Pulwama (southern Kashmir), which recorded a single digit turnout, is considered extraordinary. In fact, BJP has won a seat in northern Kashmir (Bandipore) and central Kashmir (Srinagar) as well. This brings the party closer to the people of the Valley, which can also have a contagion effect on its politics. Explaining the importance of the DDC elections, LG Sinha described them as a key vehicle to recover the politics of representation in Jammu and Kashmir. Tuesday’s results mark a tentative and important step toward that: How the establishment will handle the new expectations is the next challenge.
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