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Kashmir : Civic polls |
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The opposition National Conference and the BJP have gained ground in the second phase of the local bodies elections held in Jammu and Kashmir. The National Conference won a clear majority in the prestigious Srinagar Municipal Corporation for which elections were held on February 1 after a gap of 27 years. The party bagged 41 seats while 17 went in favour of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, and six to the Congress. In the Jammu Municipal Corporation there is a neck and neck fight between the Congress and the BJP. In the 71-member Corporation, the Congress won 26 seats while the BJP got 25. The remaining seats went to the National Conference and Independents who will naturally play a decisive role in the running of the Corporation.
The verdict of the second phase of the civic poll, though on expected lines, has caused embarrassment to the ruling PDP-Congress combine. The two parties were boasting earlier over inflicting a crushing defeat on the National Conference in the first phase of the civil elections in Kupwara and Baramullah districts of the Valley. Analysts say that the National Conference, which suffered a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections, has gained a new lease of life. Observers say that the ruling coalition has been punished for neglecting Srinagar in development activities. The National Conference is also happy that the turncoats who had deserted the party after it was thrown out of power have suffered a humiliating defeat in the elections for the two corporations.
The civic elections in Srinagar and Jammu witnessed a large turnout of voters. In Jammu, nearly 65 per cent of voters exercised their franchise. In Srinagar, more than 20 per cent people exercised their franchise compared to a little over five per cent in last year’s Lok Sabha elections. This is considered a significant jump as the voters braved threats and intimidation from militants to cast their votes. Another remarkable feature of the polling was that there was hardly any violence, only one or two incidents of militants hurling grenades near polling booths.
NC President Omar Abdullah said, “There are numerous instances wherein the people of Srinagar resisted all out efforts made by this Government to reverse the verdict. What is before us today is testament to the will of people against the neglect of the Government.” He also said that the Mufti Government’s “bogus” agenda is being gradually exposed and that his allies, particularly the Congress, have suffered in Jammu mainly because of the realisation among its people that the Chief Minister was apathetic and carried a false outline for the state as a whole.
The PDP while reacting to the election outcome said that it was mainly as a result of low turnout that it could not perform well in Srinagar. “Our party has appreciably extended its area of influence in the capital city; it has won a large number of votes polled and if polling in the city had not been low, it would have won more seats,” party president Mehbooba Mufti said in a statement. She said that the results have set at rest all allegations of rigging and other electoral malpractices even as the exercise has enhanced the respectability of the poll process in Kashmir.
Kashmir watchers have described the conduct of municipal polls in Jammu and Kashmir after 27 years as an important landmark. No surprise that it should have been marked by boycott and violence by some within the state and those across the border who fear democracy and representative Government. The campaigning has been enthusiastic and voter-turnout in the first phase of town committee elections and the second phase of the elections to the Jammu and Srinagar corporations, especially in socalled separatist strongholds like Handwara, Kupwara, Baramullah and parts of Srinagar, indicates that people are seeking to rebuild their shattered lives and have opted for participative governance and development in preference to empty jehadi rhetoric.
The local body elections are poised to transform the political scene. They manifest a bottom-up choreography with new players scripting a new agenda going beyond the tired declarations of partisan politics and coteries. This is likely to rejuvenate the whole political process.
Work on Baglihar dam speeded up
Work on the Baglihar dam project in Jammu and Kashmir has been stepped up to ensure timely completion of the first phase of the 900 megawatt hydro-electric project early next year. The State Power Development Corporation has signed an agreement with a consortium comprising nine big financial institutions for raising a loan of Rs. 17.70 billion for the project. State Government officials have rejected the demand by Pakistan that work on the dam on the River Chenab be suspended to facilitate the resumption of the technical level talks on the issue. The State Government has requested the Centre not to make any concessions on the issue saying that Islamabad’s objections are unfounded, speculative and tenuous.
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