Some shifts

The political parties are going ahead full throttle with their poll campaigns. Candidates are making concerted efforts to persuade the electorate to vote for them. They  are organising a flurry of activities including rallies, road shows and door to door programs.

The Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir are being held amidst an altered political landscape. It marks the  first major political exercise after the Central government stripped the region of its constitutional autonomy and split it into two federally controlled territories.

The Delimitation Commission tasked with the remapping of territorial constituencies carved out Anantnag - Rajouri constituency, a trans-Pir Panjal poll territory. It is the first seat that falls in both Jammu, and Kashmir regions. The top political leaders including a former Chief Minister vying for the seat has made it a high-profile one.

These polls differ from the previous ones in a host of respects. Since 1996, when the government initiated a democratic process after a good five year due to a drawn out phase of militancy, these will be the first elections with no calls for a poll boycott.

The political parties and their candidates are confident that the people will no longer steer clear of the polling stations. They anticipate a significant voter turnout. During  the previous elections, from 1996 to 2019, a scant percentage of people  would  show up at the polling booths to cast their ballots. There were even the polling stations which did not witness any polling at all. The boycott politics of separatist leaders kept the voters away from the polling booths. Even in 2017 Lok Sabha by-polls, Srinagar recorded only 7 percent voter turnout.

Moreover , the electoral landscape of Jammu and Kashmir is  witnessing the candidates from newly minted  political parties like Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party ( JKAP) and Democratic Progressive Azad Party ( DPAP).

These parties  perceived to be close to the current dispensation are being upbraided by the traditional Kashmir headquartered parties like the National Conference ( NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP). They view them as the proxies of the Bhartiya Janta Party ( BJP). The BJP, which was trying hard to gain a toehold  in the Valley has dropped its idea to contest from Kashmir, particularly from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

Home Minister Amit Shah during his recent visit hinted that the  party would not  field its candidates from the Valley when he said that BJP is not in a hurry to bloom lotus in Kashmir. The principal political parties, particularly  the traditional arch rivals-- the NC and the PDP- are fighting the elections beyond governance issues.

Both the parties have made safeguarding the land and identity  as the centrepiece  of their poll campaigns. More or less in every rally both Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti say that they are fighting the elections to protect the identity of the region.

Although they touch the issues like ballooning youth employment and price rise, their main poll agenda revolves around the restoration of the constitutional  provisions scrapped on August 5, 2019.

Additionally, these elections also witnessed the off-springs of the politicos taking part in poll rallies and road shows.

While Mehbooba’s daughter Iltija Mufti has formally made a foray into politics by canvassing for the party candidates, Omar’s two sons were seen accompanying him in a few rallies.