How important are elections to realise the vision of new Kashmir?
In his first interview to a television channel during the current campaigning for the Assembly elections in 5 States, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah revealed to News18 on Monday, 21 February, that the President’s rule could end in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir “in 6-8 months after completion of the delimitation process”. “The delimitation exercise is about to get over. After this, whatever will be the reasonable timeframe – about six-eight months – the elections will be held. There should be no confusion about that”, Shah said in reply to a question. The question of when exactly would the Election Commission of India (ECI) hold the next Assembly elections—the first after creation of the UT in August 2019—looms large in every conversation about the erstwhile State. Also Read: Jammu and Kashmir joins National Single Window System to lure investors and entrepreneurs Even in the last two years, Shah has invariably asserted that the Assembly elections in J&K would be co