Srinagar: Karan Singh, former Sadre Reayasat (president) of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and former Union minister is not one to feel sentimental about the bifurcation -- one of the hot button political issues ahead of the coming assembly election. The key thing now is the restoration of statehood, and that should be done ahead of the state election. Else, the elected government will only a "glorified municipality," he has told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
Preparations are on at the Election Commission for the assembly polls, for which the Supreme Court has given a September deadline. Though no date has been announced yet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after the general election, announced yesterday that they were "not far off".
"I think the government wants to do it after the election," Mr Singh said. But he had some advice. "Having election for a Union Territory is not the same as having election for a full-fledged state. If you are giving an election to the people, give them a proper state election," he said.
The bifurcation took place in 2019, part of a two-pronged plan of the Union government that also included scrapping Jammu and Kashmir's special status granted under the Article 370 of the Constitution.
Five years, Mr Singh indicated, is a long time in politics, pointing to the Ayodhya Ram temple, which the BJP hoped would bring them massive support in Uttar Pradesh. But the calculation went awry. Not only did the party slide from 62 seats of 2019 to 33, it also lost Faizabad, under which Ayodhya is located.
"After building the temple, the new railway station and the airport...," Mr Singh said.
About the bifurcation of the state where he used to be regent, the 93-year-old said, "There is no use being over-sentimental... We have to accept reality and work with whatever we have".