New Delhi: The Jammu & Kashmir unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has recommended to the Election Commission of India (ECI) that Lok Sabha and assembly elections be held simultaneously in the Union Territory, ThePrint has learnt.
This view was shared by other political parties including the Congress, Farooq Abdullah-led J&K National Conference and the Democratic Progressive Azad Party led by Ghulam Nabi Azad.
R.S. Pathania, who was part of the BJP team that met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar earlier this week, told ThePrint: “We have submitted that BJP is ready for simultaneous polls. We have no objection and have asked EC to set up special booths for migrant Kashmiri Pandit voters, who are more than 76,000 in number.”
Kumar arrived in Srinagar Monday for a three-day visit to review preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah had told reporters in Srinagar Monday that it would be “unfair” to the people of J&K if “elections to the assembly are not held along with the Lok Sabha polls to save the BJP”.
“If the situation is conducive to holding the Lok Sabha polls and getting (government) employees to take part in the PM’s rally in Srinagar then assembly elections are also possible,” he said.
Former Congressman Ghulam Nabi Azad, who floated his party in September 2022, also raised a similar demand Saturday. “We have been waiting for the assembly polls for years. We hope that the polls take place immediately after the parliamentary election. I think the people of Jammu and Kashmir cannot wait anymore now,” he told reporters.
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had in December last year directed the central government to ensure that assembly elections are held in J&K by September 2024. Though assembly elections have not been held in the UT since 2014, polling was held there last in December 2020 for election to the District Development Councils (DDC).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kashmir earlier this month, the first since the abrogation of Article 370, just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, coupled with his remarks — “main yahan dil jeetne aaya hun (I have come here to win hearts)” — had led to speculation that Modi was signalling party workers to gear up for simultaneous polls in J&K.
The BJP’s J&K unit has been holding camps and instructing workers to prepare for polls. Local leaders are being inducted into the party almost on a regular basis and teams have been formed to oversee preparations at district and constituency levels.
Devinder Kumar Manyal, general secretary of the J&K BJP, told ThePrint, “The entire political landscape (in J&K) has changed after the Prime Minister’s rally in Kashmir. The Prime Minister struck an emotional cord with the people of Kashmir. Since (Article) 370 was scrapped, developmental work has been undertaken in various forms across the UT.”
“We are ready for simultaneous elections. It is up to the EC to take a call and look into other issues such as security and logistics,” he added.
A BJP functionary from the valley shared this view, adding that holding simultaneous polls in the UT would “depend on the availability of security forces since there is a logistical and security challenge involved”.
“We cannot delay the poll process any longer since people here have been waiting for their elected representatives for the last five years. L-G rule cannot be a substitute for an elected government,” a J&K BJP functionary told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
He added, “The best case scenario is to hold elections (in J&K) when the national mood is in favour of PM Modi. People in our country are ready to vote for Modi, so why can we not use this opportunity to hold simultaneous elections here?”
Pointing out that simultaneous polls are already held in four states (Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim), he argued, “security arrangements will already be made for the Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls can be held at the same time with a little extra deployment.”
Amarnath yatra, security challenges & BJP push
While many within the BJP feel now may be the ‘best time’ to hold assembly polls in J&K, there are also those who believe holding simultaneous polls may not be feasible due to security challenges.
“Holding simultaneous polls (in J&K) is not feasible since you need massive security deployment in J&K. This will be the first election to be held there since Article 370 was scrapped. The Centre will not find it suitable to take a security risk in a sensitive region,” a senior BJP leader told ThePrint.
The leader added, “There are many states where additional forces will have to be deployed such as West Bengal and states in the Northeast.”
“It would be feasible to hold assembly elections (in J&K) just after the Lok Sabha polls, in the first week of June, before the start of the Amarnath yatra. Once the yatra begins, there will be other security challenges, which is why elections can be held either before, or after its conclusion in August.”
Addressing thousands who had gathered at the Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar to hear him, Modi had said on 7 March that “Jammu and Kashmir is scaling new heights of development, as it breathes freely; this liberation from restrictions followed abrogation of Article 370”.
He also said: “I will continue my efforts towards winning your hearts even in the future. And this is Modi’s guarantee!”
Since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories (J&K and Ladakh), the central government has taken various measures to win favour with voters in the UT. These include reservations for Gujjars and Bakarwals in government jobs and educational institutions, granting ST status to Paharis, and delimitation of parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.
J&K BJP spokesperson Sunil Sethi said the party is “ready for elections but it is up to the Centre to assess the ground situation and security challenges since forces are also to be deployed to safeguard the Amarnath yatra”.
A BJP leader who has served as a minister in J&K added, “In the Lok Sabha elections, the Centre has to provide security only to 25-30 candidates who are contesting the polls but in the case of simultaneous elections, security cover will also have to be given to more than 500 candidates contesting the assembly polls, besides those in the fray for parliamentary seats.”
“It will be a challenge for security forces, like the one they faced during the DDC polls for which candidates had to be provided security cover for several months. Although it depends on how the Centre sees the various security aspects. From a logistical point of view, holding simultaneous polls will have challenges but is strategically suitable for the Centre.”
Asked about his expectation of how the party would fare if assembly polls were to be held in the UT, J&K BJP vice president Yudhvir Sethi said, “Not only will the party perform exceptionally well in Jammu region — our target is to get 35+ seats from Jammu — we also expect 8-10 seats from the valley to form the next government in the UT.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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