In December, when the results of the first ever direct elections held in Jammu and Kashmir after its reorganisation were announced, they we...
In December, when the results of the first ever direct elections held in Jammu and Kashmir after its reorganisation were announced, they were along predictable lines.
The Kashmir valley had overwhelmingly voted in favour of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, a conglomerate of older, regional political parties that have been demanding the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and special status under Article 370 of the Constitution, which had been dismantled by the central government in August 2019. The Jammu region, meanwhile, voted largely for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The elections had been held for establishing District Development Councils, the third tier of local governance in the Panchayati Raj system. All 20 districts in the union territory stood divided into 14 constituencies. Of the 280 district council constituencies, the Gupkar Alliance won 110 seats, followed by Bharatiya Janata Party with 75 seats.
Going by the results, the Gupkar Alliance was set to have its chairman and vice-chairman in at least six of the 10 district development councils in Kashmir. In three other districts, it just needed the support of only one elected councillor from each district to take its tally up to nine.
But as the process of electing chairman and vice-chairman of district development...
