Assembly elections and statehood — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first address to Jammu and Kashmir on his third term contained words the Union Territory has been waiting long to hear. And what it heard was not just a promise that it would be done, but done soon.
Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union territories in 2019 when it also lost its special status, and has been waiting since for the restoration of statehood promised by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. For a state election, it has been waiting longer — the last assembly election took place in 2014 and the sate has been under President’s Rule for the last six years.
For Opposition parties in the state, statehood and the scrapping of Article 370 — which gave Jammu and Kashmir its special status — became hot button issues, generating multiple demands for rollback.
PM Modi’s visit ahead of the International Yoga Day, expected to draw global attention, did not disappoint. Shortly after his arrival in Srinagar, PM Modi addressed a programme seen as an outreach to the young. And there, the announcement came, on the heels of a record turnout in Kashmir Valley in the recently concluded general election that generated headlines.
At Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Complex or SKICC this evening, PM Modi said, “Preparations have started for the assembly election. That time is not far when you can choose the government with your vote”.
His next comment brought a louder round of applause: “That day is not far either when Jammu and Kashmir can decide its own future as a state”.
Jammu and Kashmir’s return to statehood was expected to be a big-ticket issue in PM Modi’s third term, though there has been no announcement from the government.
It was expected to happen after the assembly election, preparations for which has been accelerated after the Supreme Court’s September deadline.
Ahead of the general election, in one of his interviews, PM Modi had spoken of the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. “The restoration of statehood is a solemn promise we have made and we stand by it. We are working very hard to create the right conditions so that it can be done expeditiously,” he had told news agency Press Trust of India.
Coming to Jammu and Kashmir amid a spate of terror attacks, PM also promised action. “We have taken serious note of the recent terror attacks. Home minister has already issued directions. I assure that we will not hesitate to reach a lesson to the enemies of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.