July 17, 2026

J&K DDC Results: People Want Development

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-12-23 02:17:32

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

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The counting of votes in the J&K District Development Council (DDC) elections shows that while the Gupkar Alliance (GA) is leading, the BJP has emerged as the single largest party. While the leads are going as per script, with the GA leading in the valley and the BJP sweeping the Jammu area, what is good for the nation is that the elections were held in a peaceful manner and the turnout was decent, despite threats by terrorists. It was also good that the GA did not boycott the elections and despite their reservations over the abrogation of Article 370, decided to be a part of the electoral process in order to form the DDC and carry on the development work in the state. For the record, the alliance is likely to form 9 councils and the BJP 6, while 5 are hung. Another big development shown by the leads is the emergence of independent candidates as a major force. Nearly one-fourth of the 280 seats are showing leads for independents. This means that the people are wishing for new people to lead them and are looking beyond the parties that form the GA, the Congress or the BJP.

All political parties have tried to read different (the one that suits them the most) meaning in the preference the people have shown in the voting pattern. While the GA has said that the results and the voting in their favour has shown that the people have rejected the changes of August 2019, the BJP has said that the very fact that people came out to vote in large numbers shows that they want development and have rejected the narrow politics of the GA. Interestingly, neither the GA nor the BJP have yet acknowledged the rising importance of the independents in these local polls although it is clear that they will play a major role in both the formation of the DDC and development at the grassroots level. The very fact that people have shown faith in local leaders who are not affiliated to any political party and do not carry the baggage of the past shows that they have decided to move on and vote for development and not for the brand of politics that has not allowed them to be a part of the mainstream in India. The Centre should build on this and take the political process further.