“Despite a strong Hindutva constituency, there is deep-rooted resentment against the BJP within Jammu post-abrogation of Article 370, stemming from the loss of protections concerning land and jobs. In the parliamentary polls, Jammu’s two constituencies went to polls in the first and the second phases of the long-drawn-out electoral process. Since then, Modi’s persona – the key element in all BJP campaigns – has dwindled and the pan-Indian appeal of the Congress has deepened.
This may benefit the latter in the region.” Anuradha Bhasin* The meaning of assembly elections was already turned on its head before the announcement for polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The first seismic jolt came with the J&K Reorganisation Act when the state was split like an atom, cleaved into two union territories – Ladakh (without an elected assembly) and Jammu and Kashmir with an elected assembly.
Later, by subsequent changes. Under the Indian constitution, union territories with or without the legislative assemblies, do not enjoy the powers equivalent to a state. They continue to be more directly controlled units in varying degrees.
The August 5, 2019, move, which also stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy, was an unprecedented case of demotion. So, when broad and sweeping powers of oversight of any legislative business were given to the centrally appointed Lieutenant Governor, ahead of the poll announcement, it was a simple endorsement of that demotion that ended the suspense over t.