Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) had its first ever District Development Council (DDC) elections in 2020 after the erstwhile state’s autonomous status came to an end on August 5, 2019. In 2019, Article 370 was abrogated and the area including Jammu and Kashmir became a union territory.
In October 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act 1989 was amended and provision was made for holding of direct elections to the district development councils. These councils replaced the district development boards. There had been no representation on the boards. The DDCs were constituted on the basis of a direct election with each district having 14 elected members. Accordingly, polling for the 280 seats of the union territory were held in eight phases between November 28, 2020 and December 19, 2020. Among the 280 seats that went to the polls, 140 are in Jammu Division and 140 are in Kashmir Division. The DDC elections of 2020 witnessed a total of 51 per cent voter turnout. The elections were held through ballot papers and electronic voting machines (EVMs) were not used. For the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, the West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) were allowed to exercise their right to vote.
An amalgam of seven political parties, People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) contested the DDC elections as one unit. The PAGD comprised of the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), People’s Conference, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (CPI) Awami National Conference, and Jammu Kashmir People’s Movement. The other major contenders were the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), and Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party. The Congress was initially a part of the PAGD but distanced itself later and decided to contest the elections on its own. The results of 278 out of the total of 280 constituencies were declared. The counting of votes in two DDC constituencies was kept in abeyance as two of the candidates were detected to be from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The results showed the PAGD (the seven-party coalition) emerging victorious with 110 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party bagging 75 DDC constituencies. The positions of other parties are—the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference—67 seats, PDP—27, Congress—26, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party—12, CPI—18, CPI(M)—5, JKPM—3, JKNPP—2, BSP—1, and the independent candidates won 50 seats.
The voting pattern of the J&K DDC elections showed that the people voted as per their religious composition. The Hindu regions predominantly voted for the BJP.
One of the significant features of this Jammu and Kashmir DDC elections 2020 is opening up the democratic exercise in the union territory. These elections also kickstarted the political activities in the region which was dormant ever since the abrogation of Article 370. It has opened the door for Kashmiri citizens to have their local representatives, to redress their grievances. It will also aid in flow of funds from the government for the development of the councils depending upon the size of its population.
BJP vs. PAGD: The BJP ended up with the largest seat share in the J&K DDC elections 2020 due to the fact that it also contested in the maximum number of seats. However, the PAGD parties contested the election as one unit. The poll results show that the BJP has secured control of at least six District Development Councils (DDCs) in Jammu and none in Kashmir.
Significance of the Election: The elections have given a kind of ‘moral right’ to the political parties to act on behalf of the people. This is as much true for the BJP as well as for the PAGD.
The BJP, being the single largest party, claims that the people of J&K have approved its policy and have voted for development and rejected separatism. According to it, this is a victory of democracy.
On the other hand, the victory of PAGD highlights about the reality of their existence and their relevance to Kashmir’s or even the union territory’s politics which cannot be challenged. There may not be much formal democratic space for them to operate in, but they can always be vocal about political issues.
Roshni Act and Illegal Land-Grabbing
In the election campaign, corruption in Roshni Act played a major role. The Roshni Act was enacted for the purpose of transferring of ownership right of state land in Jammu and Kashmir to its occupants.
Initially, the Jammu and Kashmir Land Act, 2001 was passed by the former National Conference government led by Farooq Abdullah. The act had provided ownership to the occupants who had acquired land in the state of Jammu and Kashmir before the cut-off year of 1990. The occupants had to pay a fee that was estimated by the government. The main objective behind this act was to gather resources for hydroelectric power projects, hence the act came to be known as the Roshni (Light) Act.
The PDP-Congress coalition government, which was headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, had made amendments in 2005 to the Roshni Act in order to relax the cut-off year from 1990 to 2004. Later, there were further amendments to the Act by the Jammu and Kashmir government led by Ghulam Nabi Azad to set the premium at 25 per cent of the market rate and further relax the cut-off year to 2007. Free ownership rights were provided to farmers who occupied agricultural land with only₹ 100 per kanal (around 5445 square feet) as the documentation fee.
Initially, when the Act was passed, the government had set a target of about ₹ 25,000 crore along with the expected amount of transfer of ownership of around 20.46 lakh kanals (approximately 1.02 lakh hectares) of state land (about 16.02 lakh kanals in Jammu region and 4.44 lakh kanals in Kashmir).
In 2014, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India estimated that only ₹ 76 crore was realised from the transfer of land between 2007 or 2013 instead of ₹ 25,000 crore, as was originally envisaged in the scheme.
The former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik, in October 2018, revoked the Roshni Act and cancelled all the pending proceedings under it. Following this, in September 2019, he organised a probe with the help of the state’s anti-corruption bureau for examining other illegal activities that had taken place as part of the Act.
In October 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court termed the Roshni Act as “illegal, unconstitutional and unsustainable” and further involved the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for looking into the irregularities that had taken place under this Act.
The issue was highlighted in the DDC election and influenced public opinion.
The DDC election result was unique from different points of view. It proved the power of democracy and established the lost electoral process in the trouble-torn union territory. The BJP independently secured a place from where it can move forward. The result also shows PAGD’s influence in the valley. The alliance fought on the main agenda of opposing nullification of Article 370. The mandate it has received indicates the mood of the people who are opposed to the revocation of Article 370. Now it is up to the Centre to take suitable action.
The Gupkar Alliance
The Gupkar Alliance, formed in October 2020, was an alliance of seven political parties in Jammu and Kashmir. The alliance was formed in order to restore Article 370, and further, the special status and provisions for Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah of National Conference was promoted as the Chairman of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) and PDP chief, Mehbooba Mufti, was elected as the vice-chairperson.
The alliance was against the central government’s decision and had shown its defiance to the same by adopting the erstwhile flag of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah had also stated that the alliance was constituted with the intension of restoring the special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and they were fighting for the same. According to him, PAGD is an ‘anti-BJP’ platform but it has no anti-national motives.