With no signs of restoration of statehood in sight, the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have been demanding an Assembly election. Apni Party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari in a statement on Tuesday has sought holding of state polls without delay. While expressing his readiness to fight polls, Bukhari said the core agenda of his party is to ensure statehood is returned to J&K. Earlier, J&K parties were sore when the government celebrated the Union Territory Day on October 31 with some pomp and show. The National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had said that the celebration was akin to rubbing salt into our wounds. He also challenged the Centre to conduct elections to see the “sankalp (resolve)” of the people of J&K.
But it is true that Assembly elections in J&K are unlikely to be held in the near future. It will be safe to presume now that there is no chance of elections until general elections being held in May next year. And it will depend on the priorities of the successor national government whether polls in J&K are held immediately after that or not. State polls could in all likelihood be further delayed should the BJP return to power, which it is favourite to do.
The pending verdict on Article 370 in the Supreme Court will also be a decisive factor. Whatever be the verdict of the Supreme Court, it could pave the way for, at least, the Assembly elections in J&K. But when? No one is sure about the timing. More so, when general elections are just six months away. During the hearings of the Article 370 case in the Supreme Court, the union government told the Supreme Court that it cannot give any exact timeframe and it would take “some time” for restoration of statehood in J&K while reiterating that the union territory status is “temporary”.
But, for now, all eyes are fixed on the apex court’s verdict on Article 370 which might come in the near to medium future. And that would determine J&K and Ladakh’s future trajectory. In case of the SC’s endorsing the withdrawal of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the former state into two union territories, the discourse will decisively shift towards Assembly elections and the subsequent grant of statehood – truncated or otherwise – as promised by the union home minister Amit Shah himself on the floor of parliament. Until then, both political parties and people of J&K have no choice but to wait.
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