Sheikh Imran*
After a ten-year wait, the people of Jammu and Kashmir finally got a chance to elect an assembly of their representatives.
During these exhaustive years, the erstwhile state underwent unprecedented changes at the behest of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its coalition partner, the People’s Democratic Party.
The BJP and PDP first created a furore in the region when they came together and formed a government. It was followed up with unpopular decisions like the implementation of the SARFAESI Act, a stringent piece of legislation aimed to protect the interests of creditors, in the erstwhile state despite palpable public disapproval of the step at a time. The Act was introduced even as the residuary powers lay with the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
In 2018, the BJP withdrew its support from Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir and gradually took the reins into their own hands and controlled it through a governor, later through L-Gs after the state was demoted to a Union Territory. In August 2019, it split one of the largest states of the Union of India and its only Muslim-majority state into two Union Territories.
The central regime has since kept introducing unpopular legislation and actions with the help of a strong bureaucratic set-up. While doing so, it kept evading the questions of the restoration of statehood, and elections in the newly carved-out Union Territory. Only after the Supreme Court’s directions, the Election Commission of India finally declared the elections in Jammu and Kashmir for its newly created 90 seats in three phases starting on September 18, 2024, after a perfectly choreographed delimitation.
Now, when the political parties in the fray are coming up with their poll manifestos for the region, the BJP has come up with a lacklustre and lackadaisical poll document filled with ambiguous promises.
Some key points resemble the NC Manifesto
After preparing itself with multiple curations for the elections, the BJP couldn’t prepare a viable or promising manifesto. The Prime Minister’s so-called “vision” is, in fact, directly inspired by BJP’s arch-rival National Conference’s manifesto.
Schemes like “Maa Samaan Yojana” have been already promised by the National Conference with a different name. The promise of free gas cylinders to the economically weaker sections was guaranteed in the National Conference’s manifesto and the BJP conveniently copied it by reducing the number of cylinders.
Another promise made by the BJP concerning job creation in the region is also reflected in the National Conference’s poll manifesto. The BJP has embellished this promise with a striking catchphrase of “Prem Nath Dogra Rozgar Yojana” and a promise of an increased number of jobs. While the National Conference promised free examinations for jobs and free transport for female citizens in Jammu and Kashmir, the same is reflected in the BJP’s manifesto with slight modifications.
The premier regional political party promised the development of a robust tourism industry across Jammu and Kashmir and this also occupies a prominent place in the poll document of the saffron party. The National Conference guaranteed 200 units of free electricity in its manifesto, whereas the BJP modified it with a catchphrase and promised free electricity, and subsidies.
Promises With No Relation to Welfare
BJP further goes on to make poll promises that have nothing to do with the welfare or social security of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The promises of renaming educational institutions, for instance, are just an attempt to deflect from the actual issues like unemployment and the failing health sector, which have been exacerbated during their ten years of rule. The exorbitant electricity tariffs, smart meters for drinking water, etc. tell a completely different story about their governance.
They have claimed to strengthen the reservations that have been granted to people classifying them as Scheduled Tribes. The issue has been seen as an injustice by the people in the urban areas of Jammu, in particular, due to the political overtones of the action neutralising the actual reason behind the arrangement of affirmative action.
Instead of paying attention to their grievances, the BJP has chosen to remain tone-deaf on these issues.
In its entirety, the analysis of BJP’s manifesto is nothing, but a bunch of papers put together, lacking any meaningful substance, that can redress people’s concerns. Besides, the seemingly plagiarised promises from the National Conference’s manifesto, it further claims to do things that the BJP couldn’t do in the past ten years despite largely controlling the region from Delhi.
Introduction of unpopular steps like All India Quota in Medical, NEET, taking away the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, and the premiere healthcare, public healthcare institution SKIMS, unabated scams in Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board, and Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission under their rule have been left ignored.
In the last ten years, the issue of return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, and the lack of a transfer policy in their favour in the interest of their safety was also left untouched. But this is now being promised in the poll document.
Overall, the document lacks due diligence, exposes a bankruptcy of ideas, and rings hollow.
*Sheikh Imran is a freelance Columnist and a writer based in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir.
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