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oth Prime Minister Nar- day of the polls. Nor was their any elec- pects is worse off. The boycott this time
endra Modi and the BJP tion campaigning. is largely voluntary,” said Naseer Ah-
president Amit Shah were One major takeaway from the polls mad, a columnist. “This shows how far
effusive in their praise of is the boycott in Kashmir Valley and Kashmir has drifted away from the po-
B the people of J&K for the re- what it entails for the state going for- litical mainstream”.
markable performance of the Hindutva ward. First time the state witnessed Omens for the near future are thus
party in the just concluded municipal boycott on such an extensive scale was grim. And after the boycott of the civic
bodies polls. More importantly, the par- during Parliament polls in 1989 when polls, few see chances of any participa-
ty won 97 seats in Kashmir Valley, ironi- militancy has just begun. The elections tion in the Panchayat polls in Novem-
cally in the state’s separatist stronghold. that followed saw an increasing par- ber or the general elections next year.
But on ground, the reality was large- ticipation of the people. Only exception And this alienation, in turn, imperils the
ly contrary to what was being projected. was the last year’s Lok Sabha bypoll for electoral politics in the Valley. And its
The polls witnessed a widespread boy- Srinagar constituency which was not biggest victims are the major regional
cott in the Valley, so much so, that 76 of only boycotted but resisted too, leading political forces like National Confer-
the BJP’s 97 seats were won unopposed. to loss of eight lives. ence and People’s Democratic Party,
And, a significant number of the candi- So, has the situation in the Valley re- the two parties which have alternately
dates fielded by the party didn’t live in gressed to 1989? The answer, the gen- ruled Kashmir in alliance with a nation-
the localities they contested from but a eral opinion in Kashmir goes, is yes. al party like Congress or the BJP. They
minimum of 300 kilometres away. “In fact, the situation in some as- have boycotted the ongoing civic polls

BJP handed victory on a platter as

local parties boycotted polls in J&K

Municipal poll boycott by Kashmiri political parties gives BJP unprecedented win
in a separatist state, reports riyaz wani

The other figures about the polls pending an assurance from the centre
similarly tell a farcical if not the grim that it wouldn’t scrap the Article 35A,
story — overall, 231 wards in the Val- the state subject law that bars outsiders
ley were won unopposed and the The voter from settling in the state. With no such
other 185 went uncontested. Congress assurance coming along, National Con-
got 157 wards of which 78 were won participation was so ference has even threatened to boycott
unopposed. However, independents meagre that a total the Assembly and Parliament polls.
emerged as the single largest group in This has left the field open for the
the Valley by winning 178 wards. of a four and a half Congress and BJP and the other smaller
In Jammu, the BJP emerged as the per cent cast their parties. Only well-known Kashmiri
single largest party. But in Ladakh, the party in the fray is the People’s Confer-
party drew a blank. vote over the four ence led by Sajjad Gani Lone, a BJP ally.
The participation was so meagre And as the results reveal, Congress and
that a total of a four and a half per cent successive phases the BJP have won a major chunk of
cast their vote over the four successive in the Valley. In a the wards. Ironically the BJP has won
phases in the Valley. In a Baramulla even from the separatist bastions like
ward, a candidate won by his solitary Baramulla ward, a Anantnag.
vote. What is more, voters didn’t know candidate won by his “BJP won in 97 wards in d Kashmir
who was contesting the election. Their Valley for d first time. Secured maxi-
names were kept under wraps until the solitary vote mum wins in Baramulla (25), Anantnag

Tehelka / 15 november 2018 28 www.Tehelka.com

28-29 Riyaz Civic Polls.indd 2 02/11/18 11:23 AM