‘Most J&K leaders want statehood before polls’

Srinagar: After holding a meeting with the political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, the Prime Minister has said that the delimitation exercise has to happen at a quick pace so that elections are held in Jammu and Kashmir to “give strength to J&K’s development trajectory”.
However, most of the leaders pleaded with the Prime Minister for the restoration of statehood first before holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The Prime Minister, however, did not give an assurance to the participants whether the central government will restore statehood first or not. Apart from the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), even parties like the J&K Apni Party headed by Altaf Bukhari demanded restoration of statehood first before holding elections.
Former Union Home Minister and CWC member P. Chidambaram took to twitter on this issue and criticized the central government for insisting on holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir before the restoration of statehood. He said in his tweet, “Congress and other J&K parties and leaders want statehood first and elections afterwards. The government’s response is elections first and statehood later.” He further said, “The horse pulls the cart. A state must conduct elections. Only such elections will be free and fair. Why does the government want the cart in front and the horse behind? It is bizarre,” he said.
However, the Prime Minister was quoted by the media as saying that Jammu and Kashmir deserves an elected government soon and it will “give strength to J&K’s development trajectory”. The Prime Minister was further quoted by the media as saying that it was the duty of J&K leaders to provide space to the youth so that they can, in turn, give political leadership in future. According to reports, most of the parties from Jammu and Kashmir have assured that they will participate in the delimitation exercise, while the central government has already given an extension of one year to the delimitation commission to complete the process in Jammu and Kashmir. The National Conference with three MPs from Kashmir, associate members of the commission, has boycotted all the meetings so far, while the two BJP MPs from Jammu region have participated.
Recently, the delimitation commission held a virtual meeting with all the district heads of Jammu and Kashmir in order to proceed in their work. The Centre is very keen that this exercise is completed before elections are held in Jammu and Kashmir. After the delimitation exercise is completed, the Centre will take a call on whether to restore statehood first or to hold elections first in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.