Continuity and change

Although some of the novelty of the process of new government formation in J&K has been lost since the Assembly election result was announced on October 8, all eyes in the union territory are fixed on Wednesday, when the new government is expected to take the oath of office. The National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah will take over as the new chief minister. This will be his second innings as J&K CM after his tumultuous 2008-14 term. Only difference is that J&K has since transformed in all aspects. We are no longer a state or endowed with special constitutional status under Article 370. Also, Ladakh is no longer a part of J&K but both are now separate union territories. And in a union territory, powers of an elected government are severely circumscribed.

This poses challenges for an elected government in the exercise of its limited powers, something that is understandable and acknowledged by the people as well. The success of the elected government lies in a constant effort by it to forge a healthy relationship with the Lieutenant Governor Manoh Sinha and also with the central government.

And vice versa. The union government and the LG also will need to show flexibility in accommodating the genuine demands of the elected government since it represents the aspirations of the people of the UT. We can only hope that this is the case. Both, the LG and the CM, will work for the larger interest of the people of the UT and the country.

That said, with the elected government in place, J&K will look forward to the restoration of full statehood in the near future. Both the prime minister Narendra Modi and the home minister Amit Shah have time and again promised the reinstatement of statehood and there is hope that the promise will be kept sooner than later.

Meanwhile, the people will hope that the new LG-CM combo makes a redeeming difference to the state of affairs. Their immediate challenge will be to take both Kashmir Valley and Jammu region along and give them a stake in the new governance structure.  For now, both the  NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar have started off well by reaching out to not just the union government and the LG but also to people in Jammu, and Kashmiri Pandits. Here’s hoping that this spirit of cooperation and inclusiveness not just continues but lasts.