“For political parties this is the time to draw lessons from the experiences of the decades of trust deficit and promise only what would be possible for them under a new arrangement in the post Article 370 abrogation scenario.”
The notification for the first phase of Assembly Elections amid release of election manifestos by the political parties and realignment of political forces has set the stage for the beginning of a new phase of electoral politics in Jammu & Kashmir. The elections are a new experience for both the political parties and as well as the people of Jammu & Kashmir as delimitation of assembly constituencies and reservation of some of the assembly constituencies for the schedule caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe communities has altogether changed the electoral landscape of Jammu & Kashmir . While the political parties are promising heavens to the people in their election manifestos, the people’s mandate would itself speak about the acceptability of political parties in fast changing political scenario in Jammu & Kashmir. Morality demands that political parties draw a line between the possibilities and impossibilities for giving people of Jammu & Kashmir a sense of achievement in next five years of popular rule. Political leaders often talk about alienation of people but don’t muster the courage to talk about the trust deficit that has grown in the decades of popular rule in erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state. So for political parties this is the time to draw lessons from the experiences of the decades of trust deficit and promise only what would be possible for them under a new arrangement in the post Article 370 abrogation scenario. Restoration of the trust deficit is as such a much bigger challenge than wining this election for both regional and national level political parties in Jammu & Kashmir.
“Since almost all political parties are suffering from the crisis of trust deficit, they would one or other day obviously find a common meeting ground in propagating politics of truthfulness in the fast changing political scenario in Jammu & Kashmir. While politics of truthfulness would by all probabilities take all the political parties nearer to the path of people’s empowerment, public welfare and socio-economic transformation in Jammu & Kashmir, the politics of exploitation and appeasement if pursued for just wining this election could further spoil the institutions of public representation and public welfare.”
To ensure that promises made in the election manifestos see the light of the day tomorrow in the post poll scenario it is the time for political parties to shunt the path of falsehood and create a conducive environment for the dawn of a new phase of truthfulness in the electoral politics of Jammu & Kashmir. Since almost all political parties are suffering from the crisis of trust deficit, they would one or other day obviously find a common meeting ground in propagating politics of truthfulness in the fast changing political scenario in Jammu & Kashmir. While politics of truthfulness would by all probabilities take all the political parties nearer to the path of people’s empowerment, public welfare and socio-economic transformation in Jammu & Kashmir, the politics of exploitation and appeasement if pursued for just wining this election could further spoil the institutions of public representation and public welfare.
