By Kaveesha Fernando
SRINAGAR, India (CWBN)_ Jammu and Kashmir’s first District Development Council (DDC) polls saw the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of seven of the region’s political parties, win 110 of the total 280 seats being contested, making them the pre-election alliance with the largest number of seats.
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed victory in the election because they are the party with the largest number of seats, having won 75 of the total 280. It should be noted though, that the BJP is the party which contested for the most number of seats in this election. Their achievement cannot be discounted however, because the BJP won the highest share of votes in the region of Jammu from the seats contested, while in Kashmir it was the Gupkar Alliance.
Indian media notes that Jammu and Kashmir is the only region among the Indian states and union territories where the Muslim population forms a majority. It seems that one must read the election results with a demographic lens; the uneven distribution of Muslims in the region account for the PAGD’s overall performance at the elections. According to an Indian media report, a 2011 census indicates that Muslims form 96.4% Kashmir’s population, while Hindus account for 62.6% of the population in Jammu.
Both demographics seem to have voted along racial lines – 86% of the seats in entirely Hindu districts were won by the BJP, who claimed only a paltry 2% of the seats in entirely Muslim districts. The PAGD also fared similarly, winning 57% of the seats in entirely Muslim districts, and a meagre 4% in entirely Hindu districts, according to Indian media reports.
It remains to be seen what post-election alliances will be made and how the PAGD’s victory will impact the state of affairs in the troubled region of Jammu and Kashmir, and if they can live up to their election promises. The historic PAGD alliance was formed in order to fight to bring back Article 370, which allowed Jammu and Kashmir limited autonomy. Jammu and Kashmir were afforded a separate constitution, flag and the freedom to make laws independently through Article 370, until India imposed federal rule in the region (reversing all of the region’s autonomy) in June last year when the government of the then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was reduced to a minority.
