More than four years after the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir, the party has decided not to contest this year’s general election there.<\/p>\n
Political analysts and opposition leaders say the decision hints at anger in the region over the move – and the party’s acknowledgement of it.<\/p>\n
Relations between Kashmir and Delhi have been tense for decades. An insurgency against Indian rule and military action against it have claimed thousands of lives in the Himalayan region over the past three decades.<\/p>\n
The situation worsened in 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a><\/span><\/span>‘s government revoked<\/a> nearly all of Article 370 – a part of the Indian constitution which had given significant autonomy to the region – and divided it into two federally-administered territories of Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.<\/p>\n The government also imposed a strict communication blockade and jailed hundreds of political leaders, including three former chief ministers, for months.<\/p>\n Since then, Mr Modi and his ministers have repeatedly championed the 2019 decision, claiming that it has brought peace to the region.<\/p>\n In the last few years, local BJP leaders have also worked extensively to expand its support base in Kashmir by launching door-to-door campaigns.<\/p>\n So the party’s decision not to field any candidates in the ongoing general election – the first in the region since the abrogation of Article 370 – has come as a surprise to many. (The BJP has candidates in two seats in Hindu-majority Jammu, but none in the three seats of the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley.)<\/p>\n The BJP’s chief spokesperson in Jammu and Kashmir claims that elections are not a priority and their main objective is to win the “hearts of the people”.<\/p>\n “It took us 75 years to fully integrate Kashmir with the rest of the country and we don’t want [to create] an impression that we have done this exercise just to win seats,” Sunil Seth said.<\/p>\n But critics say this is because the party leadership realises that securing victory in the region would not have been easy.<\/p>\n While the “achievement” may sell in other states, removing the special status of the Himalayan region hasn’t gone down well with the people here, says Noor Ahmad Baba, a political analyst.<\/p>\n