Unfulfilled election pledges leave J&K residents in the lurch
Shabir Ahmad
The warmth of hope promised by the National Conference (NC) during the 2024 assembly elections has cooled, leaving behind a trail of broken pledges and growing public discontent.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s persistent campaign for restoring J&K’s statehood, once the rallying cry of his election narrative, is increasingly being seen as political camouflage to divert attention from his government’s failure to deliver on key promises.
On Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition Sunil Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on Abdullah, accusing the NC of selling “false dreams” to cover a “legacy of corruption, misrule, and oppression.” His remarks reflect a rising tide of frustration across the union territory, where residents say the government’s ambitious commitments have turned into empty slogans just a year after its sweeping victory.
The 2024 polls were projected by Omar Abdullah as a turning point to “restore dignity” to Jammu and Kashmir. The NC manifesto, titled Justice, Peace, and Development, pledged rapid progress on unemployment, infrastructure, youth empowerment, and most importantly, the reinstatement of full statehood within the government’s first year. “We will not rest until Article 370 is back and statehood is restored,” Abdullah had declared during his rallies, promising a “healed” Kashmir free from “central interference.”
But as October marks the end of that self-imposed deadline, the promises appear hollow. Statehood remains a distant goal, and critics say the NC leadership knew well the constitutional and political constraints involved. Rather than bridging trust, the government faces charges of inaction, with key programs stuck in red tape and little movement on employment or subsidies.
“Do you want statehood to become a tool to justify the killing of innocent Kashmiris?” Sharma asked during the assembly session, recalling the NC’s controversial past from 1982 to 2014, marked by corruption, misuse of the Public Safety Act, and crackdowns. He accused Abdullah of repeating history, using the statehood issue to distract from governance failures and accountability gaps.
Evidence of administrative inertia continues to grow. BJP leaders have highlighted that several welfare schemes—ranging from free electricity and rural development to job creation—were cleared by the Lieutenant Governor’s office but stalled in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. In the past year, 97 cabinet decisions received LG approval, yet crucial files “remain stuck in Omar’s own office,” Sharma revealed, dismissing Abdullah’s claims of “bureaucratic interference” as “excuses without merit.”
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, however, defended the government, citing “structural constraints” that limit fiscal and administrative powers until full statehood is restored. Yet, even coalition partners like the Congress have grown uneasy, with members privately voicing concern over the government’s slow pace on minority and regional development issues.
Sharma contrasted the NC’s stagnation with what he called “a new age of peace and accountability” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Under PM Modi, not a single local youth has joined terrorism in years. People believe in ballots, not bullets,” he said, crediting the Centre’s policies for curbing violence and promoting democratic participation. He also attacked the NC’s “dynastic stranglehold” over politics, urging the end of “family monopolies that have harmed Kashmir for decades.”
As winter sets in, Omar Abdullah’s renewed accusations of “Centre betrayal” in both J&K and Ladakh threaten to deepen political divisions. But for many residents, the deeper betrayal is closer to home—the NC’s unkept promises and the fading hope of real change.
With by-elections approaching and public patience thinning, Omar Abdullah’s government faces a critical choice: shift from rhetoric to results or risk being remembered as another chapter in Kashmir’s long history of broken promises.
