Promises and Paradoxes

The elected government of Jammu and Kashmir led by Omar Abdullah, voted to power hoping the fulfilment of several promises, has now completed one year of its term. The completion of its first year, remains clouded by ambiguity over the exercise of power and the unfulfilled pre-election promises made to the people.

In Jammu and Kashmir, after the abrogation of article 370 and 35A, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) secured landslide victory and led to a government formation amid tough political challenges, where law and order remains under the Raj Bhavan. However, several promises were made by the National Conference during its election campaign with a profound focus on restoring the ‘statehood’. The National Conference secured victory and public trust which was largely built on a manifesto of twelve key objectives, centred on the theme of ‘Dignity, Identity and Development’.

The manifesto of the National Conference for the last elections mentioned twelve different welfare guarantees, including the promise of restoring normalcy and Kashmir’s autonomy status which was seized post August 5, 2019. However, with the formation of the elected government on October 16, 2025, Omar Abdullah holds office as a Chief Minister with people aiming fulfillment of pre-elections promises made done by the National Conference and Omar Abdullah himself – whether promising to revive normalcy to Kashmir or providing free electricity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Other promises, mentioned in the party’s manifesto were free 200 units of electricity, free rice allocation per person and one lakh jobs to the youth along with several other welfare promises. However, the government had provided free ration and electricity to only those belonging to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAC) and it shows a contradiction with the Party’s own manifesto. Although the National Conference had promised free 200 units of electricity to all the people of Jammu and Kashmir and 10 kilograms of rice allocation to per person across all the social categories, the benefits were confined to only to ACC groups.

Whereas, other promises which helped the National Conference to gain majority in the last Jammu and Kashmir elections were guarantees of reviving special status to Kashmir . However, after assuming the office, Omar Abdullah and his cabinet passed a resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir’s Legislative Assembly demanding restoration of Statehood, which shows how Abdullah-led government ignored the mention of Article 370, which was a main agenda during elections. However, Abdullah landed several times in the national capital to hold talks with Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Yet, the resolution remained unacknowledged by the centre and the demand for statehood continued to linger in ambiguity throughout the first year of his term.

Whereas the Abdullah-led government defended its performance by citing its remaining tenure and the complexities of the Union Territory’s dual power structure, such explanations show a deep erosion in public trust along with the political inconsistency.