With Election Commission of India (ECI) putting on hold the assembly elections till the conclusion of Lok Sabha elections and Kashmir’s mainstream leaders crying over the delay in the conduct of assembly elections in the state, the general impression brewing among the people is that Kashmir’s mainstream parties has been disowned by both the Election Commission and as well as the Central Government. Knowing that unless and until the Union Home Ministry does not convey its clearance on security preparedness to election commission for holding assembly elections in the state ,the election commission can’t decide the timing of the elections and in the consequential response the National Conference Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has in one of his recent critical remarks hit out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his inability to hold assembly elections in the state . Knowing that sending a team of three election observers for reassessing the situation to decide the timing of the assembly elections in the state is just an attempt to ward off growing public criticism of the election commission’s decision on the deferment of assembly elections in the state, the National Conference and some smaller Kashmir mainstream parties while reiterating the demand for early assembly elections choose to boycott the meeting with the elections observers for discussion on the timing of the assembly elections.
Had the central government been interested in conceding the demand of the Kashmir’s mainstream for holding early assembly elections in the state, the Union Home Ministry would have conveyed its clearance on security preparedness for holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections simultaneously in the state.
With central government leaving it to the election commission to decide the timing of the assembly elections in the state and choosing to remain silent over the security preparedness for holding elections it is obviously clear that the central government has almost disowned Kashmir’s mainstream. Had the central government been interested in conceding the demand of the Kashmir’s mainstream for holding early assembly elections in the state, the Union Home Ministry would have conveyed its clearance on security preparedness for holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections simultaneously in the state. By all standards of understandabilities political morality demands that Union Home Ministry comes out with a statement over the security preparedness on holding early assembly elections in the state as otherwise further delay in the restoration of the popular rule convey a message that central government is neither interested in restoration of popular rule in the state nor in addressing the alienating of youth deepening the continuing chaos in Kashmir.
