1977 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election

Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held over June 1977,[1] which are generally regarded as the first 'free and fair' elections in the state.[2] Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, newly revived from the former Plebiscite Front, won an overwhelming majority and re-elected Sheikh Abdullah as the Chief Minister.[3]

1977 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election
9 July 1977
all 76 seats in Legislative Assembly
39 seats needed for a majority
Turnout67.2%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Sheikh Abdullah
Party JKNC JP
Last election - -
Seats won 47 13
Seat change 47 13
  Third party Fourth party
 
Party INC Jamaat-e-Islami
Last election 58
Seats won 11 1
Seat change 46 4
Chief Minister before election

Sheikh Abdullah
JKNC

 Elected Chief Minister

Sheikh Abdullah
JKNC

Background

After reaching the 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord, Sheikh Abdullah was elected as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir by the ruling Indian National Congress party in the state legislature (which had in fact been the original National Conference founded by Abdullah in 1930s but merged into Congress prior to the 1967 elections). Abdullah remained in power during the National Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975. After the Emergency was lifted, the Janata Party came to power in the Centre in the 1977 general election.[4]

Elections were called for the state Legislative Assembly in June 1977. Sheikh Abdullah now revived the National Conference from the erstwhile Plebiscite Front. The National Conference and Congress met head on as equals, the first time such an electoral contest occurred since the State's Accession in 1947. The Prime Minister Morarji Desai (of the Janata Party) took steps to strengthen security in the state and declared that any rigging would be severely punished. This had a 'salutary effect' in the political atmosphere in the state witnessing its first 'free and fair' election.[5]

The revival of the National Conference was greeted with great enthusiasm in the Kashmir Valley. In the words of a Kashmiri, "the entire valley was red with N. C. flags. Every house and every market stood decorated with bunting."[2]

Results

The National Conference won the majority in the Assembly with 47 of the 76 seats.[6] Whereas it won 40 of the 42 seats in the Kashmir Valley, it was able to win only 7 seats out of 32 in the Jammu province.[7]

The Indian National Congress (former National Conference, which had been in power since the State's accession) was reduced to third place, winning 11 seats in Jammu and none in the Valley.[7]

The Janata Party (which had incorporated the former Jammu Praja Parishad) won 13 seats, its best performance so far. In addition to 11 seats in Jammu, it won 2 seats in the Valley for the first time.[7]

Also significant is the fact that Jamaat-e-Islami won only one seat, down from 5 seats in the previous Assembly.[6]

Government formation

Sheikh Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the State following the election.

By the end of the 1970s, the seventy-year-old Sheikh Abdullah anointed his son Farooq Abdullah as his successor. Following Sheikh's death in 1982, Farooq Abdullah was appointed as the Chief Minister. The National Conference government completed a full five-year term.[8]

Prior to his death, Sheikh Abdullah initiated a controversial 'Grant of Permit for Resettlement' bill in the State's Legislative Assembly. As per the bill, any state subject of Jammu and Kashmir prior to 14 May 1954 or any of his descendants could apply for resettlement in the State provided they swore allegiance to both the Indian Constitution and the Constitution of the State. The bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly after Sheikh's death, but it aroused fears among the Hindus of Jammu that Pakistani sympathisers and agents could cross into the State and create tensions. The Central government forced Farooq Abdullah to refer the bill to the Supreme Court of India where it has been put into cold storage.[9]

Commentary

All the elections held in Jammu and Kashmir prior to 1977 were plagued with corrupt electoral practices.[10] The elections of 1977 represented a 'democratic breakthrough', according to scholar Steve Widmalm. Politician Bhim Singh stated, 'Morarji Desai openly declared that anyone who would attempt to pursue some form of rigging would be severely punished, and this was quite effective'. The Congress party in the Central Government has therefore been regarded as an obstacle to the State's democratic functioning. The party regarded Jammu and Kashmir to be a sensitive border state, which was not 'ready for democracy'. Building Indian nationalism was considered far more important. Activist Balraj Puri has disagreed with the sentiment. In his view, the democratic functioning was indeed a prerequisite to integration and national unity. As a result of the democratisation process, he has asserted that there were ten years of peace with 'no fundamentalism, no secessionism and no communalism'. JKLF's Amanullah Khan has also endorsed the assessment. The observers he sent to the Kashmir Valley during the early 1980s reported that the situation was not conducive to inciting a rebellion.[11] Journalist Tavleen Singh who covered the subsequent Assembly election in 1983 asked people wherever she went whether they regarded the plebiscite as an issue. 'Almost everywhere the answer was an emphatic no. People said that the past was dead and they were participating in this election as Indians,' she recounted.[12]

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References
  1. 1977 J&K elections
  2. Guha, India after Gandhi 2008, Section 23.III.
  3. Statistical report J&K 1977
  4. Guha, India after Gandhi 2008, Chapter 23.
  5. Widmalm, The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir 1997, pp. 1006–1007; Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective 2002, pp. 57–58
  6. Widmalm, The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir 1997, p. 1007.
  7. Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace 2003, pp. 89-90.
  8. Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace 2003, p. 90.
  9. Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict 2003, pp. 129–130.
  10. Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective 2002, p. 57.
  11. Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective 2002, pp. 57–61.
  12. Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict 2003, p. 131.

Bibliography
  • Bose, Sumantra (2003), Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-01173-2
  • Guha, Ramachandra (2008), India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy, Pan Macmillan, ISBN 0330396110
  • Schofield, Victoria (2003) [First published in 2000], Kashmir in Conflict, London and New York: I. B. Taurus & Co, ISBN 1860648983
  • Widmalm, Sten (November 1997), "The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir", Asian Survey, 37 (11): 1005–1030, doi:10.2307/2645738, JSTOR 2645738
  • Widmalm, Sten (2002), Kashmir in Comparative Perspective: Democracy and Violent Separatism in India, Psychology Press, ISBN 978-0-7007-1578-7
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