The elections in Jammu and Kashmir are nowhere in sight. It has been almost six years now that the Union Territory is without its elected government. The last time elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir were in 2014 and the PDP -BJP government collapsed in 2017 before it could complete its tenure.
Post 2019, the political realities in Jammu and Kashmir changed and it was anticipated that the elections might be held under the new reorganization act 2019 implemented after the erstwhile state was turned into Union Territory.
Even on the floor of the Parliament, the Union Home minister Amit Shah promised free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir along with the return of statehood, though no time frame was given.
However, it has been a long time the UT is without any elected government and represented by administrative set up. Even from the political quarters , the demand for the elections is growing louder and stronger. DPAP chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad last week said that the elections in the UT must be held without any further delay.
He said that the elections have been delayed so long only once since 1947 in Jammu and Kashmir. The absence of elected representation to the people cannot be denied for so long. When the situation in Kashmir was gruesome with highest level of terrorism in 1990s the elections took place only after six years of delay.
This time the situation is peaceful and the terrorism is at the lowest ebb with no major threat anywhere. People are also craving for its own government and the centre must consider of holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
They can be held along with the Parliamentary elections due in the first half of next year or they shall be held separately in coming months. But let their be a word from centre to encourage healthy democracy in Jammu and Kashmir.
