Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh who has been frequently traveling to Kashmir for the last more than three years to douse the flames of unrest though knows very well that a massive election exercise can’t be imposed on an unwilling electorate in a hostile security scenario amid increasing anger against the central government’s confusing stand on article 35 A but yet again he just appealed largest mainstream political parties boycotting municipal and panchayat elections to participation in elections from Jammu. Issuing a statement to the Kashmir mainstream leadership more than three hundred kilometers from their constituency in valley shows that both the central government and the state administration tends to impose elections on both the political leadership and as well as the electorate the way an army general imposes the decisions of his own will over the people in a country where an elected government is sacked and army takes charge. Had the Home Minister Rajnath Singh taken the trouble to travel to Srinagar and call an all party meeting to settle the issue with the leaders of mainstream political parties by consensus the seriousness of government in handling the elections issue democratically would have been acknowledged by the mainstream political parties boycotting the proposed municipal elections in the state. Since the Modi government at the centre tends to paint the colour of election issue to petitions filed against article 35 A ahead of 2019 mega poll battle in the country the Union law ministry neither instructs attorney general to file a counter affidavit for defending the article 35 A nor asks him to support the petitions seeking abrogation of article 35 A.
Had Mehbooba Mufti been sincere in defending article 35 A she would offered unconditional support to National Conference for forming a non BJP popular government which would at least defend article 35 A and decide the issues of panchayat and municipal elections on its own whims and wishes. Unfortunately both PDP and National Conference try to settle political scores over each other even on sensitive issue like article 35 A and had Abdullahs’ and Muftis’ been sincere to their commitments to the people of Jammu & Kashmir the Modi government won’t dare to ignore their poll boycott announcements and decide to go ahead with the proposed elections without their participation.
Amid an ill conceived remark by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh wherein he appealed political parties boycotting the municipal and panchayat elections to participate in the elections the PDP President Mehbooba has surprisingly claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the fall of her government assured her of putting the article 35 A into the back burner after its referring to a constitutional bench by supreme court but can Mehbooba Mufti explain to the people of the state that do judges of the supreme court deliver judgments at the whims and wishes of the people in power at the central and how many promises Prime Minister Modi kept during three year PDP-BJP coalition rule in the state? Unfortunately the claim of Mehbooba Mufti about Prime Minister Modi’s assurance on defending article 35 A is more hurting and insulting than the appeal of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to mainstream political parties for their participation in the municipal and panchayat elections in the state. Had Mehbooba Mufti been sincere in defending article 35 A she would offered unconditional support to National Conference for forming a non BJP popular government which would at least defend article 35 A and decide the issues of panchayat and municipal elections on its own whims and wishes. Unfortunately both PDP and National Conference try to settle political scores over each other even on sensitive issue like article 35 A and had Abdullahs’ and Muftis’ been sincere to their commitments to the people of Jammu & Kashmir the Modi government won’t dare to ignore their poll boycott announcements and decide to go ahead with the proposed elections without their participation.
