If campaigning is a yardstick to measure the success in election, BJP has every reason to celebrate even before the first vote is counted. The first District Development Council (DDC) election in Jammu and Kashmir is a high-stake battle for both the BJP and the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, a grouping of regional parties.
The Gupkar Alliance was literally missing during campaigning. But will it still upset BJPs mission to capture the first electoral space after special status to Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped and it was converted into a Union Territory?
The counting for 280 seats will start tomorrow morning. The process may take longer than usual because the state election commission has opted for paper ballot instead of electronic voting machines or EVMs.
The results of the election may be used as a sort referendum by both political ideologies -for and against the major constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir.
The announcement to hold DDC polls was so sudden that it took political parties by surprise. The regional leaders emerging from long detentions and restrictions were caught in a Catch-22 situation. The decision to fight the election was just not easy for the new political amalgam, named as People's Alliance for Gupkar declaration or PAGD. The BJP calls them "Gupkar gang".
The alliance by arch rivals, National Conference, PDP, People's Conference and other groups was stitched to fight for restoration of Article 370 and statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. But that premise may have taken a backseat.
The PAGD announced to field joint candidates and even issued list of their "unanimous" candidates for first five phases. The bonhomie, however, was short lived as the tussle over seat sharing forced them not to release subsequent list for last three phases.
None of the three former chief ministers - Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah or Mehbooba Mufti - campaigned even once for their candidates. No one knows the exact reason why they completely abandoned the space and allowed BJP to have a free run.
The BJP inducted a battery of central leaders including union ministers who aggressively campaigned across the regions in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the other side, Farooq Abdullah was battling a money laundering case in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. The agency recently attached his properties including two houses in Srinagar and Jammu region.
Initially, the alliance leaders alleged that their candidates have been kept in security enclosures and not allowed to campaign on the pretext of security concerns. But their own failure to campaign has raised eyebrows.
Despite a subdued campaign and biting cold, people came out in large numbers to vote. The temperature hovered around minus 6 degree Celsius. The voter turnout was over 50 per cent.
The by-election for over 12,000 panchayat seats was equally fascinating. In contrast to near total boycott in 2018 when regional parties stayed away from local polls, the competition was fierce and every panchayat result was celebrated. Counting for panchayats was held soon after polling in all eight phases.
In 2011, over 80 per cent turnout was recorded in panchayat elections, but things dramatically changed after 2016 as PDP-BJP coalition government failed to hold the election.
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