Omkar Dattatray
It is very encouraging and positive development that centre government has told the supreme court that assembly elections will be announced and conducted any time now .The Solicitor general Tushar Mehta also said that UT status to Jammu and Kashmir is temporary and it may be restored .But the centre government remained non -committal about the timeframe for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir .However SGI said the call for announcing the assembly elections rests with the election commission of India and the UT’s election commission .So the authority of announcing and holding the polls in Jammu and Kashmir lies with the election commission .Now the election commission will take the final call about holding the assembly elections .Thus there are enough and clear indications that assembly polls in J&K will be announced and conducted very soon and there is no ambiguity about this and it is very encouraging development and the political parties and the people of Jammu and Kashmir have hailed and welcomed the centers contention of the centre of holding the assembly elections any time now .Thus the political parties ,politicians should gear up for taking part in the assembly elections to give themselves a democratically elected government which will be responsive to the needs ,aspirations and issues of the people of the union territory .Now the election commission should clear decks for announcing and conducting the much overdue assembly elections and announce the schedule of holding elections to the UT so that people of J&K will use their right to vote and elect the democratic government which will come up to the expectations and aspirations of the alienated people by giving them the chance to cast vote and elect new popular and democratic government ,so that the political vacuum and deficit is removed and people are politically and democratically empowered to elect their government which will be responsive to the needs and issues of the people .Jammu and Kashmir cannot be kept under the central rule for an indefinite time as it amounts to the murder of democracy and violation of the rights and liberties of the people .Jammu and Kashmir is under the central rule from the last over five years and as a consequence there is no democratic and popular as well as peoples government in place in Jammu and Kashmir. There is no connect between the alienated and estranged people of the UT and the LG administration and people are orphaned as the administrative secretaries and all most all district collectors are from outside Jammu and Kashmir and they have no feeling about the people and there is trust deficit between the governor’s administration and the people .Now when the assembly elections will be conducted ,there will remove trust deficit and the people will have their own government which will address all the issues and problems of the people. .Thus it is expected that the statement of Solicitor General will be implemented on the ground and the democratic process will be initiated very soon to enable the people to cast their valuable vote to elect and install the government of their choice so that the people will be in a position to rule the UT .The fact that centre is ready to hold the assembly elections has come from the horse’s mouth and it is a good omen for the people of Jammu and Kashmir who will get the opportunity to use their power of vote to change their destiny by electing and installing a democratically government which in all probability will come up to the expectations of the people who stand denied of their right of vote for the last over five years .it is so good and encouraging that the centre government has finally cleared its decks by announcing that it is ready to hold the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir from any time now .However has maintained that the ECI and SEC will take the final call for announcing and holding the assembly elections in the UT .Now the political ball is in the hands of election commission and it is expected that it will announce and hold the assembly elections of J&K assembly immediately so that the people are politically empowered to cast their vote and elect and install a people’s government which will care for the issues and problems of the people .So the ECI and SEC will work in unison and take the final decision of conducting the much overdue assembly elections in the UT ,so that people of this region also will be politically empowered to cast their vote and elect the people’s government which will be responsive and transparent .Thus without losing further time ,the ECI should take the final decision of holding the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir .Now after the right decision and comment of the solicitor General before the five judge constitutional bench headed by justice Chandarchud ,the political parties and the political leaders as well as the common citizens are in a upbeat mood as all of them will have the right to cast their ballot and choose the government of their choice which will care for the people and address their day to day problems .It is hoped that the ECI and the SEC will take the final call about the conducting the assembly elections so that the commoner is enabled to vote and elect a democratic and peoples government at the earliest so that the woes of the people are addressed .Political parties ,politicians and the gullible people of the UT have with one voice appreciated the centre government for declaring that it is ready from any time now to hold the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir .This is very important and encouraging that the government of India has made it crystal clear that it is ready for holding the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir and as such there are no two views about it .The election commission ,whose prerogative and privilege is the announcing and holding the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will immediately announce the schedule of the polls .Thus before the onset of winter the ECI should announce and hold the assembly elections and thus it should recommend the GOI to conduct the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and heal the scars and wounds of the alienated people of Jammu and Kashmir who stand denied of exercising their right of vote .To conclude it can be said that the political parties ,politicians and the common citizens should jump in the elections once these are announced and elect the democratic government in Jammu and Kashmir as the gullible people of the erstwhile state are anxiously waiting for the assembly elections and therefore these should be conducted immediately without any further delay.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).