The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had to eat humble pie as the results for the maiden assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir were announced, showing that they couldn’t secure a single win in the Kashmir division. This is despite claiming for years that their decisions, particularly the abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August 2019, brought peace and freedom to Kashmir. The electorate has sent a clear message: they voted against the Delhi.
The assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir have exposed a significant disconnect between the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) claims of winning the hearts of Kashmiris and the reality on the ground. The elections happened after a decade and for the first time after Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its special status which people called as their “identity”.
The BJP’s move to repeal Article 370 was framed as a step towards “national integration and development”. However, for many in the region, this action represented a profound loss of identity and autonomy.
“Our identity was taken away from us. Everything was, one by one,” said Fayaz Ahmad Haroon from Srinagar during the second phase of the elections. “We used to boycott before but the BJP has been brought in the majority, it came to snatch our rights. They snatched our identity from us. We vote to keep them away from ruling us.”
Maktoob spoke to dozens of voters in all three phases of the assembly elections and most of them called out the “false” claims of the BJP’s “development” in Kashmir. “I didn’t see any development. We are voting to see any kind of development here,” a woman voter in southern Kashmir’s Pulwama said. “We are even scared to step outside after the sunset. Where is the development and peace?”
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited this year, he spoke about winning the hearts of Kashmir more than the seats. However, on the ground, the party seems to get their hands on none and nothing. The sentiment among voters was palpable: many cast their ballots with the intent to keep the BJP from further entrenching its power in the region. The anger against the party was persistent in the campaigning and during the electoral process.
Many of them said that they feared to talk before as there was no political representation in Kashmir and if only they spoke, they would be “arrested or beaten”. “The fear of reprisal kept us shut till now and the credit goes to the BJP,” said a young voter in Srinagar. “But we believe our regional parties will set us free from these years of suffocation and we will be able to express dissent.”
Khalid, a political analyst from Srinagar, said that Kashmir once again showed the BJP that its policies have “no place” in Kashmir. “BJP along with its proxies have been shown its place. Suppressed voices and crushed emotions have become the biggest threat to the BJP’s lifelong dream of opening an account in Kashmir.”
The party, which had hoped to capitalise on promises of development and stability, found itself facing an electorate deeply scarred by the perception of lost rights and cultural erasure. “People in Kashmir see the BJP as a party that is hell-bent on disempowering them. Also, happenings in mainland India like the lynching of Muslims in the last few years and no convictions have created a feeling that the BJP will have devastating policies in store for the only Muslim-majority region,” said a political analyst. “A political lynching, Kashmiris fear, so people had only one chance.”
Many people voted for the first time in their lives and did not resort to boycotting which reflects a strategic shift in local political dynamics, where the act of voting became a form of resistance against perceived encroachments on their identity. However, not all feel the same.
The elections provided a platform for prominent regional parties like the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to rally support against the BJP. These parties framed the electoral contest as a fight for Kashmir’s rights and identity.
While they were successful in gaining support across the valley, for some, not just the BJP but all the parties participating in the electoral process are the same. “They are all just the same. They can’t fool us by saying that we need to vote to keep the BJP away. What have they ever done for us,” said a local from downtown, Srinagar where the voter turnout was much less like always. “We have suffered because of the politics and the politicians. I didn’t vote.”
The very fact that the BJP has been unable to communicate with the Kashmiris highlights a larger issue of alienation. For many, the concepts of development and peace have been replaced by feelings of insecurity and loss. The stories the locals shared during the elections were tied to the essence of Kashmiri identity—something the BJP simply failed to acknowledge and had no meaningful way of engaging with.
“We want our own party, They will at least understand our issues. We will raise our issues with them and they will address all of them, hopefully,” said Raja, 75, a voter from south Kashmir. “They [BJP] can’t understand us. And they are not reachable.”
The maiden assembly elections after the abrogation have shed light on the yawning gap between the BJP’s dreams and the ground realities of Kashmir. With neither seats nor the hearts of the people, the party faces a significant challenge to redefine its role in a region yearning for recognition and respect.
Today was the counting and result day of the elections and the success of the Congress-National Conference alliance has been seen across the region with people bursting crackers and celebrating the win. This signals a potential shift in political dynamics.
Another analyst said that the BJP’s failure in Kashmir is an answer to what the BJP government did unilaterally like abrogating Article 370, “taking away contracts, land laws, etc”.
“Kashmiris have said a big NO to Union government and BJP as well,” the analyst told Maktoob.
 had to eat humble pie as the results for the maiden assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir were announced, showing that they couldn't secure a single win in the Kashmir division.){kind=link}