NEW NORMAL IN KASHMIR JUST GOT OUTDATED

It has taken five months from the time the Election Com mission ruled out simultaneous elections to both Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir in March, to veer around to announcing elections in the truncated Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

- V Sudarshan

In March the Election Commission had said, "Jaise hi chunav khatam hogi, uske turant baad karvayenge. Jaldi se jaldi." What explains the tardy pace of the delivery of this promise?

It has taken New Delhi a long time to get a reality check on what it has crafted in Jammu and Kashmir, since the abrogation of the Article 370 in August 2019. And it had to wait to combine it with the other State Assembly elections (Haryana, in this instance) in order to give it the impression that it is the normal course of democracy. It has been a bitter pill to swallow, once it crossed the tipping point and entered the zone of diminishing returns. Delhi's experiment with Jammu P.J and Kashmir has yielded returns that are distinctly underwhelming. The longer New Delhi held on to the vestiges of its claims on Article 370, the less there was to hold on. This move could sound like a dirge for Delhi-led politics as usual.

If we are to go by the promises made at that time of abrogation versus the delivery, the pickings are comprehensively lean, whether it has to do with the economy or politics.

Political engineering that has been attempted in the run up to the Lok Sabha blew up on the engineers' faces. In the Valley, candidates that had been identified for truck with the BJP lost. Sajjad Lone from Baramullah lost and has retreated into temporary selfexile from politics.