As PM Modi comes bearing schemes for Kashmir, question uppermost is when will J-K see state polls

The last time Modi visited Kashmir was in February 2019, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls then, as part of his tour to all three regions of the former state. In April 2022, he had addressed elected representatives of local bodies on National Panchayat Day in Jammu.

The PM’s visit comes at a time when parties in the Valley are pressing the government to hold simultaneous Assembly elections with the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. J&K has not had an elected government since 2018.

“Whenever the situation deteriorated in Jammu and Kashmir in the past, we had leaders like H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral, Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee who tried to restore democracy, but for the first time we have a government at the Centre which doesn’t want to hold elections here,” former chief minister Omar Abdullah had said in December last year.

Since Article 370 was abrogated, scrapping J&K’s special status, and the bifurcation of the state into two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh — there has only been one meeting between the Centre and leaders of Kashmir, most of whom were put into long detention ahead of the August 5, 2019, historic change. That meeting was held in June 2021, when 14 key leaders, including former CMs Farooq and Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, had met the PM.

At the time, Modi had emphasised that he wanted to reduce “dilli ki doori” as well as “dil ki doori” while assuring the leaders that his government was committed to reviving the democratic process. However, the talks did not move forward and J&K has remained without an elected Assembly.

During his visit to Jammu last month, where he announced development initiatives worth Rs 32,000 crore, Modi had termed Article 370 as the “biggest impediment” to the development of Jammu and Kashmir.

Among the announcements by the PM in Srinagar will be a Rs 5,000-crore “Holistic Agriculture Development Programme” which officials claim will boost the agri-economy of the Union Territory and ensure skill development for about 2.5 lakh farmers via the dedicated “Daksh Kisan” portal. Around 2,000 “Kisan Khidmat Ghars” will also be established under the programme.

The PM is also likely to launch 52 tourism-related projects worth Rs 140 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD schemes, including integrated development of the Hazratbal Shrine.

BJP Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Ravinder Raina said at least 2 lakh people are expected to attend the rally. “The development we are seeing in Kashmir today is because of Modi. I urge people to turn out in large numbers to welcome him,” he said.