Delhi election results, a message to J&K
There was something unique in the February 5 Delhi elections, results of which were declared on February 8. BJP swept the polls; return of the saffron party to power after 27 years, also a big collapse of the opposition. Both these were obvious conclusions evidenced by the results. But there was something more extraordinary than visible political out comes.
BJP, that had missed a clear majority in the Lok Sabha elections, and had to depend on its allies to form the government in the Centre, learnt its lessons faster than the opposition which revelled in joy that the saffron party could not clear half-way mark on its own. That was very negative outlook in politics. The opposition could not convince the electorate that it could be trusted for bigger things. As the Opposition fell far short of numbers that could match the performance of BJP, it took sadistic pleasure in the reduced majority of the ruling party.
Ignoring these jibes, BJP learnt lessons and did two very important things: it continued with its time-tested policies of giving hope and helping the downtrodden sections in the country. At the same time looked at the possibilities of helping the middle class more to enrich the economy. Second, the party reached out to all sections with a collective goal of making the country great, translated as “Viksit Bharat”. This was an effort making each and every citizen of the country to become a partner in the developed India by 2047. The party was quick enough to learn its lessons in realistic terms on the ground, not the kind of drawing room introspections that other parties do.
Of course, the party worked hard in removing doubts of its core constituency which has been returning it to power time and again, especially since May 2014 – which can be aptly described as Modi charisma. Prime Minister Modi knows how to connect with the people by his words and actions. He speaks on each and every occasion of the people who just want a mention of their hopes and aspirations in governance-discourse over and above the election times.
For long, especially since J&K became a UT and it aspired for the return of the statehood, and more recently after the September-October 2024 Assembly polls, the comparisons have been drawn between the two Uts - Delhi and J&K - in terms of governance. In both the UTs law and order and other big decision-making powers are vested with the Lieutenant Governor, and the elected governments are entrusted with the rest of the matters. This comparison was unfair as both these UTs have different locations and strategic necessities. But, in both the cases, there is a level of trust deficit between the BJP, the ruling party in the Centre, and local elected governments. Now that dichotomy has vanished with BJP coming to power in the UT. BJP is in power at both the places and the common sense is that it should harmonize the relationship between the two. A realistic look would reveal that Delhi government now is more than double-engine sarkar. Delhi, the Union Capital, and the headquarters of the Central government crisscross on daily basis, which no other place in the country does.
The AAP government in Delhi had chosen its path to stay relevant in politics by picking holes in the Modi government, and its leaders, Kejriwal in particular, also raked up personal issues in the public domain. BJP was genuinely ruthless in its response to such uncalled for insinuations against their supreme leader. It launched a counter campaign against AAP and its leadership from where Kejriwal and others could not escape. And the result is there for all to see, though this all did not happen without some unsavoury and ugly spectacles.
Impact on J&K
By contrast, after the NC government took over in October 2024, it did not do anything to annoy the Centre. It avoided provocative slogans. It pushed for the resolution of the statehood in its first cabinet meeting on October 17, based on three premises (a) the foremost of which was that the state of J&K was split into two UTs, which was unacceptable to National Conference, so having realised that the split was complete – Ladakh being a separate UT, J&K should be given back its statehood, (b) promises that Home Minister Amit Shah had made in the Parliament on August 6, 2019 that J&K will get back its statehood at an appropriate time once the situation is normal, and (c) the people had voted the party that demanded statehood to power.
It will be unfair not to include NC government’s another step of passing resolution in the Assembly in chaotic situation seeking return of the special status of the state that was done away with unilaterally. It is a matter of more of an academic debate rather than a political reality whether this status that existed before August 5, 2019, will ever return. NC made its point, but the BJP did not leave it there – it projected it as an act against the national interest. BJP, the party that did away with the Article 370 could not have been expected to say anything different. As a clever political manoeuvre, it used the Assembly resolution to put shadows over the return of statehood. Now even the issue of the statehood falls in the definition of cold play in the relationship between Centre and J&K.
The Delhi election results will have a profound impact on the politics and its discourse in Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiris, intelligent as they are, have seen that at the moment there is only one supreme leader in the country – Narendra Modi, whose charisma works all across the country. Even his worst critics admit that there is no match to his personality and the leadership. It is clear that all the moves vis-à-vis J&K will be decided by the Centre at the time of its choosing.This message is quite loud and clear.
Omar has done well by balancing his approach between the mandate driven political necessities and realpolitik. The mandate is there, but that has not been taken as a sufficient ground for the grant of concessions of high political nature by the Centre, the BJP leadership expects the J&K government to do more – work for creating terror-free J&K and strong and vibrant pro-India sentiment. He is obliging the people by defining virtues of peace and at the same time suggesting to the Centre what the latter could do in achieving goals of perfect peace. There is something more he has done – praising PM Modi for the infrastructural development in the territory wile pleading for the fulfilment of the promises made to the people. It is a well thought out strategy but BJP is half impressed. The saffron party wants to take credit for whatever political and economic good the Centre does for J&K. Honestly speaking the BJP leadership of J&K is impatient, it is not reconciled to its role as opposition.
This is not a complicated situation. There is a clear answer to this dilemma. Omar should be more pragmatic in his approach if he has to deliver on his promises and encourage the others to honour their own for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the unspoken political messaging should be read before it is too late. The mandate is for good governance that requires pragmatic accommodation guided by real necessities of the times in which J&K is today. The people across the territory are more interested in political and economic stability rather than political slogans and positioning. Delhi election results have shed a new light – pragmatism and promises have to go together as the perils are also very impatient to fill the gap.
