Katyayinee Ricchariya
Alexis Foundation
A democracy survives as much as on the will of its people as on its institutions. The recent District Development Council elections in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir after some phenomenal developments since the last year can be construed as a test to both- the popular perception of the democratic process in J&K and the resilience of the local institutions in sustaining democracy in the absence of an elected government. The BJP has emerged as the single largest party, and the out of the 20 councils, at least 13 councils could have non-BJP candidates. Following the elections there also have been defections in the Shopian DDC.
The popular participation in the electoral process which was continuously plummeting also picked up with 51% voting percentage. This underlines the faith of the local populace in democracy and political process. At the same time, the skewed nature of political participation tells us of the regional alienation in the Kashmir valley. Out of the total registered voters, 68% were in Jammu region while Kashmir valley had only 34% of voters voting. Pulwama recorded only 8.5% of voting, though it went up from the last two elections in 2018 & 2019. Therefore the first and foremost concern for internal security of India remains outreaching and kick starting the development process towards reducing this regional disparity, as the popular participation presents a challenge and opportunity at the same time.
Going by the strike rate (total no. of seats contested/no of seats won), the BJP trailed with 32.6% strike rate. On the other hand People’s alliance for Gupkar declaration (PAGD) did relatively well in terms of strike rates, with National Conference winning 40.9% and PDP 39.7% of the seats contested. The rise of vote share of BJP in Kashmir valley from 1.3% in 2019 to 3.3% recently and simultaneous decline in vote share of BJP from 59.3% in 2019 to 34.4% recently, indicate the need for a stronger and coherent development agenda for both Jammu and Kashmir. The fact that the leaders of PAGD pegged this election as the referendum on acceptance of decisions like dilution of article 370, new domicile laws and dominance of the centre, by the Kashmiri populace, reflects the partial penetration of the narrative of ‘Naya Kashmir’ propagated after 5th august.
Though the elections did not witness any large scale violence, but targeted attacks and killings of political leaders in Bandipora and Srinagar reflect a series on new challenges for the security establishments. Due to the targeting of Over Ground Workers (OGW’s) of terror groups, there has been a substantial decrease in the possession of IED’s and the militant recruits are facing a dearth of weaponry which has led them towards targeted attacks on civilians, leaders and armed forces. A newer method to supply weapons by other modern equipments like drones is being resorted to. The continuous evolution of terror groups and emergence of newer outfits like The Resistance Front makes attributing these incidences of terror attacks even more difficult for the security forces. These groups operate through the Virtual Private Networks to keep their identity hidden.
There are a host of questions which these elections portray – will this election mark the beginning of political process in J&K? How will the twin challenge of development and security be fulfilled? How far will the DDC elections bolster local governance? What does the mandate mean for national security? What does the verdict say on the dilution of article 370? How do we heal the alienation of the people of J&K through political process? What role do we envisage the youth to be playing in this development trajectory of J&K?
To answer these complex questions we have present our esteemed speaker for the next Shakti series – Major General Harsha Kakkar, to speak on the recently concluded DDC elections in J&K. He has widely served in conflict zones around the world including Jammu and Kashmir.
A democracy survives as much as on the will of its people as on its institutions. The recent District Development Council elections in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir after some phenomenal developments since the last year can be construed as a test to both- the popular perception of the democratic process in J&K and the resilience of the local institutions in sustaining democracy in the absence of an elected government. The BJP has emerged as the single largest party, and the out of the 20 councils, at least 13 councils could have non-BJP candidates. Following the elections there also have been defections in the Shopian DDC.
The popular participation in the electoral process which was continuously plummeting also picked up with 51% voting percentage. This underlines the faith of the local populace in democracy and political process. At the same time, the skewed nature of political participation tells us of the regional alienation in the Kashmir valley. Out of the total registered voters, 68% were in Jammu region while Kashmir valley had only 34% of voters voting. Pulwama recorded only 8.5% of voting, though it went up from the last two elections in 2018 & 2019. Therefore the first and foremost concern for internal security of India remains outreaching and kick starting the development process towards reducing this regional disparity, as the popular participation presents a challenge and opportunity at the same time.
Going by the strike rate (total no. of seats contested/no of seats won), the BJP trailed with 32.6% strike rate. On the other hand People’s alliance for Gupkar declaration (PAGD) did relatively well in terms of strike rates, with National Conference winning 40.9% and PDP 39.7% of the seats contested. The rise of vote share of BJP in Kashmir valley from 1.3% in 2019 to 3.3% recently and simultaneous decline in vote share of BJP from 59.3% in 2019 to 34.4% recently, indicate the need for a stronger and coherent development agenda for both Jammu and Kashmir.
Though the elections did not witness any large scale violence, but targeted attacks and killings of political leaders in Bandipora and Srinagar reflect a series on new challenges for the security establishments. Due to the targeting of Over Ground Workers (OGW’s) of terror groups, there has been a substantial decrease in the possession of IED’s and the militant recruits are facing a dearth of weaponry which has led them towards targeted attacks on civilians, leaders and armed forces. A newer method to supply weapons by other modern equipments like drones is being resorted to. The continuous evolution of terror groups and emergence of newer outfits like The Resistance Front makes attributing these incidences of terror attacks even more difficult for the security forces. These groups operate through the Virtual Private Networks to keep their identity hidden.
There are a host of questions which these elections portray – will this election mark the beginning of political process in J&K? How will the twin challenge of development and security be fulfilled? How far will the DDC elections bolster local governance? What does the mandate mean for national security? What does the verdict say on the dilution of article 370? How do we heal the alienation of the people of J&K through political process? What role do we envisage the youth to be playing in this development trajectory of J&K?
To answer these complex questions we have present our esteemed speaker for the next Shakti series – Major General Harsha Kakkar, to speak on the recently concluded DDC elections in J&K. He has widely served in conflict zones around the world including Jammu and Kashmir.
