The assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir could get firmly centered around the issue of the abrogated Article 370.
The National Conference (NC) has put up-front in its manifesto its promise of restoration of the contentious Article. The NC’s stand diminishes the chance of any ‘understanding’ in these elections between the party and the BJP, as speculated, with the BJP having vowed that Article 370 will never be back. The BJP’s campaign is expected to be centered on the ‘transformation’ in J&K in last five years after 370 abrogation, and the party will contest under the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Top sources in the BJP in J&K have told News18 that it is possible that the NC and Congress arrive at some understanding and it was likely that both Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah would contest the upcoming elections. The Congress, so far, has an ambivalent stand on Article 370. The BJP state chief, Ravinder Raina, said on Monday that the party will go solo in the upcoming elections and is only in touch with 8-10 independents for contesting the elections together.
Post delimitation, there are now 43 seats in the Jammu region and 47 seats in the Kashmir region in the 90-member assembly. These elections are expected to be a direct face-off between the NC and the BJP, with the former holding sway in the Kashmir region and the latter having a dominant hold in the Jammu region. What makes any understanding between NC and BJP more difficult is the fact that NC in its manifesto has also pitched for talks with Pakistan, which BJP is against.
“BJP has a strong record to showcase of normalcy coming to J&K in last five years, with no strikes or stone-pelting and local businesses thriving. We are sure people will ignore the non-issues like Article 370 and vote for stability and peace,” a senior BJP leader in Delhi, who looks at J&K, told News18.
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