HEAR THE VERDICT!

The results from Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana teach politicians a common lesson being attuned to people's concerns is a more effective path to victory than relying excessively on loud narratives that overshadow their messages

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

It is a moment of catharsis for the common man in Jammu and Kashmir. A successful assembly election after a ten-year gap, with a majority vote for the National Conference-Congress alliance, reflects the belief of the people that the first election to choose a governance structure post the voiding of Article 370 was free and fair.

The return of the NC is like a sentient force breathing life into a peaceful but otherwise politically sterile void. Five years of lieutenant governor’s rule produced demonstrable outcomes, particularly a non-negotiable national security strategy that largely kept Pakistan at bay. But, within Jammu and Kashmir, it also created a barren political landscape where bureaucrats built roads but not relations, provided transparency but not accessibility, and people were seen but not heard.

Listening is a need in itself, and whoever had their ear to the ground during the polls heard the most. The elections were largely peaceful (with no major law and order or terror incidents reported), and the diverse outcome (the NC- Congress alliance celebrating victory; the BJP bagging seats in Jammu; and the People’s Conference, the Aam Aadmi Party and the CPI(M) winning a seat each) has helped the common man assert his identity that goes beyond the narratives of the past five years.

While the narratives around the removal of Article 370 and 35(a) and the rise of hindutva (and other smaller narratives around the reservation for Paharis, a community that largely lives in the mountainous regions, and the attempt to change voting patterns through delimitation) were what mobilised the electorate, the average Kashmiri was not just choosing from the known NC-Congress-PDP spectrum, but also trying to prevent the BJP from coming to power.