Editor's Pick: A victory for democracy in J&K

(The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.)

The Gupkar Alliance, a group of six regional parties, including the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has emerged as the frontrunner in the maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The alliance, at the time of writing, has won 96 seats while the BJP has emerged as the single largest party with 70 seats, performing particularly well in Jammu where it won six districts.

This is the first democratic exercise in the region since the Centre revoked J&K’s special status and reorganised it into two UTs in August 2019 and is a crucial opportunity to open a new political dialogue in the Union Territory. In the absence of an assembly, the DDCs will be the link between the people and the government in Jammu and Kashmir and each council chairperson will enjoy the status of a junior minister. The larger context also is that though these are local body polls the result will be seen as a sort of referendum on the changes in J&K.

The BJP was up against the Gupkar Alliance, formed in protest against the revocation of Article 370 and many of its leaders, like Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti were detained soon after the changes. The announcement of the DDC polls caught many of the leaders by surprise and though they began by announcing joint candidates for many of the seats, the unity was short lived. Within the alliance, the National Conference, which has won 56 seats, already seems to have the upper hand.

For the BJP, aside from a strong showing in Jammu, for the first time, the party won three seats from the Valley’s Srinagar, Pulwama and Bandipora districts. "Where earlier in the valley, we wouldn’t get a single person to hold the BJP flag, we managed to win three seats (at the time of writing),” a leader involved in the State, told The Hindu today.

As The Hindu noted in a November editorial, peaceful, participatory election in a troubled region can be the most forceful demonstration of the resilience of Indian democracy. The fact that the results of the election are not being contested on either side and that the process itself, conducted over eight phases, was not marred by controversy or violence and saw high participation are all signs that portend well for the future. That’s what makes this story important.

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