History shows that Jammu & Kashmir’s tryst with electoral democracy has always been marred by controversies. This time too, it looks no different. As the volatile region is headed for an assembly election after a gap of almost a decade, a fresh political row has erupted over the inclusion of ‘non-locals’ in the electoral list. Understandably, the opposition parties, including the two key regional players, National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have raised objections over the proposed addition of 2.5 million names as it has heightened the fears of demographic changes. The reason for the increase in the number of voters is that after scrapping the region’s special status in 2019, the residents – and not just those born in the Union Territory – have become eligible to vote in assembly elections like they are in the rest of India.
The administration clarified that the bulk of the new entrants is first-time voters and those who attained the age of 18 after the last roll revision. The clarification has not helped in easing the tensions.
It is unfortunate that the issue is threatening to snowball into a major political flashpoint at a time when the assembly polls are seen as a watershed moment. As per the road map unveiled by the NDA government in Parliament, the assembly polls are likely to pave the way for the restoration of statehood – a longstanding demand by local residents and the political parties. The valley is already undergoing turmoil with the rise in militant attacks, particularly targeting the minority Hindus and migrant workers. The militant groups have called for a boycott of the coming elections and threatened to step up attacks.
The exercise to redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies in the region was bogged down by controversies. There are allegations of engineering a demographic shift and increasing the political heft of the Hindu-majority Jammu at the expense of the Muslim-majority Kashmir. Non-locals being allowed to vote en masse is being seen by the local parties as a design to dispossess and disenfranchise the people of J&K.
The ruling BJP is not helping the cause by its open Hindu nationalism and anti-Muslim speeches by its leader. There is a lack of trust and this can hurt the democratic process in J&K.