Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir’s first Block Development Council polls witnessed “historic” turnout, but people in the Valley are taking the results with a pinch of salt.
The Block Development Council (BDC) polls — conducted after the scrapping of Article 370 in August — witnessed over 98 per cent polling Thursday, a surprising departure from previous elections in the state, especially in the Valley.
Although the BJP lost a majority of the seats to Independent candidates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the huge turnout “historic”.
People in the Valley, however, have a slightly different take. They say the elections have been held at a time when most political leaders in the region are under house arrest.
The polls were also boycotted by two of the Valley’s main players, the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on account of the widespread detentions of leaders following the decision on Article 370.
“The mainstream parties had boycotted the panchayat polls, leaving an open field. The boycott not only created a vacuum in panchayat polls, but it has had an effect on the BDC too. The Independent candidates will be completely dependent on the BJP ecosystem to survive,” a former PDP MLA, who didn’t wish to be named, said.
Political analysts in the Valley say the results of BDC polls, in which only the elected panchs and sarpanchs get to vote, are not a true reflection of the present mood in the state.
“Democracy is not only an institution but a culture,” said Kashmir-based political expert Noor Mohammad Baba, adding that holding elections is not the only indicator of a functioning democracy.
“In a democracy, there is political activity, there is debate. The situation to hold the BDC (polls) was simply not conducive because there is no political activity or politicians on the ground. Instead, there is a lot of inbuilt resentment,” he said.
Elections held under tight security
The BDC elections are held to elect chairpersons of each block, with panchs and sarpanchs voting in it.
In Kashmir division, the fight was largely between the BJP and Independent candidates — a repeat of the last year’s panchayat elections when the NC and the PDP boycotted the polls.
As a result of the boycott, 12,565 or nearly 60 per cent of panch and sarpanch seats remained vacant in Kashmir division.
In this BDC election, votes in Kashmir were cast by only 40 per cent panchs (6,162) and sarpanchs (1,366), which doesn’t reflect the mood of the entire state, according to experts.
The elections, however, went on smoothly without any untoward incident in Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir.
Elaborate arrangements were made during the polling and in some booths, visited by ThePrint, voters were outnumbered by the security personnel.
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BJP says Independents won with party support
There are a total of 316 blocks across J&K, but elections were held in 307 — nine are yet to go to the polls for multiple reasons, with four blocks reserved for women failing to put up a a candidate.
In the Kashmir division, BJP candidates won 18 of the 128 blocks, while Independents won 109. In Jammu division, the BJP won 52 of the 148 seats, while the J&K Panthers Party won eight. Independent candidates again took the lion’s share — 88 blocks.
Eleven of Ladakh’s 31 blocks were won by the BJP, while Independents won the rest.
Although the BJP was not able to sweep the Valley, holding the BDC polls was a major political decision that the party claimed was the first step to “empower the grassroots in Kashmir”.
With the Independents emerging as the big winners in these elections, Valley-based BJP leaders have now started claiming that these candidates won because the party supported them.
Altaf Thakur, BJP state spokesperson, said the party had not won 18 seats in Kashmir division but 72, as those who won as Independents are “like-minded” people. In Jammu too, he said, the BJP’s tally is 100 as the Independent candidates fought with the BJP support.
“A lot of like-minded candidates did not take our symbol, but took our support in Kashmir as well as in Jammu,” he added.
‘Independents will join BJP’
Independent panchs and sarpanchs told ThePrint that they couldn’t afford an “adversarial relationship” with the BJP. Some of them, currently residing in different hotels in Srinagar due to security threats, said they voted for a BJP candidate or for those affiliated with the BJP. They also claimed the Independents, who won, are either BJP-affiliates or will become one in the coming days.
Ghulam Mohammad Mir, who contested and won as an Independent against BJP’s Sajad Raina from Lassipora, said his target is the J&K assembly now.
“My target is the J&K assembly. I want to work for my people. When I met Amit Shah ji, he told me that if someone raises an eye against me, he will pluck the eyes out,” he said.
When asked on Article 370 move, Mir said, “We will demand statehood for J&K.”
Raina, on the other hand, said people of Kashmir were happy with the scrapping of Article 370, but were not able to express it openly.
“The Congress, the PDP and the NC have ruined the state. We are on a course-correction now. There are some misconceptions about Article 370. Jobs will not be taken away by outsiders nor will the land be bought by them. Land can only be used by outsiders for commercial purposes for development. (BJP general secretary) Ram Madhav ji has given assurances to Kashmir that their jobs and land will be safe,” Raina added.
This report has been updated to reflect changes.
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