DESPITE India’s willful Election Commission, the citizens of the distraught state of Jammu and Kashmir defied guns and freezing cold for over a month to exercise their right to elect a new government. The seven phase election that began on November 17 was a tedious affair from the beginning. It was jagged as much for the administration to provide security and other logistic support as was for the people who faced guns and ridicule besides icy winds to participate in the elections that proved to be the least violent in recent times. The all powerful Election Commission does owe an explanation to the people of India for conducting elections in a cavalier manner for a number of times; Punjab and West Bengal included.

The elections as predicted have produced a hung assembly. Yet the politicians have managed a new National Conference- Congress coalition to run the administration. National Conference Party Chief Omar Abdullah will be the next Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and a Congress MLA from Jammu region as his deputy. NCP emerged as the largest party with 28 seats in a house of 87. This decision came up after Omar met Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh in Delhi on December 30. Congress has 17 seats in the new assembly. The PDP of Mufti Muhammad Said which shared power earlier with the Congress and its walk out lead to the premature fall of the government and an early election has 21 seats. There is one CPM MLA, three belong to Panthers Party and six are independent legislators. The BJP which lead a highly communal campaign on the issue of land allotment to Sri Amaranth Shrine Board has improved its tally from one to eleven, mostly winning Hindu majority seats in the Jammu region. A communal divide confronts the new government. Strenuous effort would be essential to satisfy the Hindus in Jammu as well as meaningfully unite the two regions.

For the PDP, the returns from the incendiary communal campaign it ran this summer, and from its efforts to reach out to secessionists, are indeed pitiful. Its hopes of emerging as the principal political voice of the Kashmir region is frustrated, even though it secured the backing of the rank-and-file of the Jamaat-e-Islami. Winning 21 seats compared with 16 in 2002 is less impressive as during the 2004 Lok Sabha election, the PDP was ahead in 25 Assembly segments. The participation of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s in the election bodes well for the institution of democracy. PDP’s bid for power failed as the secular allies it needed as partners were not available. Same is true for the BJP; it too can not find partners. Politics sans power does not taste well.

Hindutva bigotry hasn’t paid off well despite the seemingly dramatic improvement in BJP’s fortunes, as 22 odd national parties have claimed at least 17 per cent of the vote share, though not gaining corresponding seats. Claims that the BJP has ridden a communal tide in Jammu are empirically unsustainable. First, it must the ultra-right Jammu State Morcha broke away from the BJP on the eve of the 2002 Assembly election. Had this division of votes not taken place, simple arithmetic suggests that the BJP would have won eight seats in that contest. The 2008 results mark an improvement in the BJP’s fortunes but only a modest one. Significantly, most of the 2008 victories have come in areas where the Amarnath Shrine movement remained muted.

There is indeed much to the happy about the elections and the results. From 55 to 70 per cent people in different constituencies braved the risks and voted for their candidates. A good weather would have pushed the percentage to a new high record. A hung assembly can be boon if the politicians have wellbeing of the people in their minds; they can sit down, sort out the differences and provide a good government. This is possible if their commitment for welfare state is earnest and straight. It is a rare commodity these days in India. A hung assembly represents varied political options available in the state and shows maturity of the electorate. Multi party democracy is not bad as some Europeans countries and some Indian states have repeated shown. India is currently passing through a coalition era and this is going to last for quite some time. It checks the dictatorial proclivity and offers wider choices across the political spectrum. A two party dictatorship is as bad as one party rule than a coalition government where many political hues are visible.

Kashmir elections are much more important from existential point of view. The separatists, All Parties Hurriyat Conference and others who called for boycott have little face to show. they are attempting at brave face and inventing all kinds of arguments; the election and the huge participation only mean people want their own government to look after their daily needs; roads, schools, health care , economic development etc. it does not mean they feel satisfied being with India or they have annulled their resolve for azadi. It is no solution for the real issue of Kashmir. All fine arguments. But how would they explain the happy turnout despite the threats and boycott call. Has it not given strength to Indian position on Kashmir? Does it not show that ordinary Kashmiri feels more secure being with India? What options doe the separatists offer after 18 years of bloodshed and turmoil. It is true that Kashmir needs more than elections; tangible autonomy to run its own affairs as part and parcel of India. It is also true that politicians have often ditched them as they have done with the rest of India. Corruption must end and development with equity or what is called inclusive development must begin.

There are mammoth challenges before the new government and it has to act reasonably keeping in view the aspirations of the battered people of the state. First and foremost task before the government should be initiating the process of reconciliation between different regions and communities keeping in view the recent communal and regional polarisation engineered by the political vested interests. The new alliance will have to restore people's confidence through fair and accountable governance. Because of the wrangling in the previous government, public institutions in the state are shattered thus resulting in untold sufferings of the people. The new government will have to reorganise and ensure that these institutions work for the benefit of a common man rather than satiating greed of the political elite.

All Parties Hurriyat Conference has been allowed to exercise a de facto veto on the course and tempo of the peace process for too long. The focus must shift now to empowering the elected legislators and enabling them to work together for a better Jammu and Kashmir.

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