Taking a dig at the BJP leadership on the completion of five years of the Presidential rule in Jammu & Kashmir on Monday, former chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah tweeted; “Democracy ends where J&K begins”.

“Democracy is in our veins, it is in our culture’; ‘India is the mother of democracy’; ‘India is the temple of democracy’. Great sounding words that the international community lap up & regurgitate ad-nauseam. Meanwhile J&K completes 5 years under central rule today. Democracy ends where J&K begins,” Omar tweeted.

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Democracy is in our veins, it is in our culture’; ‘India is the mother of democracy’; ‘India is the temple of democracy’. Great sounding words that the international community lap up & regurgitate ad-nauseam. Mean while J&K completes 5 years under central rule today. Democracy…

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— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 19, 2023

It is worth mentioning here that J&K witnessed assembly elections last nine years ago in 2014 leading to a fragmented mandate as a result of which the PDP led by Mufti Sayeed and BJP formed a coalition government based on a common minimum agenda. However, the coalition government collapsed on 19 June 2018 when the BJP withdrew support to Mehbooba Mufti who had become chief minister after the death of her father Mufti Sayeed. This led to imposition of Central rule in J&K. Thereafter, the demand for an elected government has been growing louder.

NC spokesman Imran Nabi Dar said, “If this continues, this second longest stint of President’s rule will soon become the longest ever. The first one was for five years and nine months between 1990 and 96 when the situation was very volatile. Today, the government of India says J&K is normal, then what stops them from giving power back to the people of J&K”.

The BJP government has also come under scathing criticism also by the PDP as J&K completed 5 years without an elected government.

J&K has tasted central rule eight times since 1977 but the current one has been scornful for the people of Kashmir and also Jammu and Ladakh as the historical state was split and downgraded to two union territories on 5 August 2019 by the Modi government. The statehood was lost but for the good of the people several central rules and laws, that were not adopted by the successive governments in the state, were extended to J&K.

PDP spokesperson Mohit Bhan tweeted; “Entire nation & its leadership must hang their heads in shame for calling itself ‘Mother Of Democracy’. J&K languishes under central rule for a staggering 5 years, with the last election held 9 years ago. The blatant disregard for people’s rights & representation is appalling”.

The Opposition parties, including NC, PDP, Panthers Party, CPI(M) and others, have been accusing the BJP of running away from assembly elections as the party fears defeat because of the misgovernance in J&K during the past 5 years of central rule. They claim that the bureaucracy has lost contact with the public in the absence of an elected government. These parties submitted a memorandum to the election commission seeking assembly elections in J&K.

Addressing a rally in Srinagar, the UT’s BJP chief Ravinder Raina said the party was ready to face the elections. He urged the election commission to declare the poll dates.