As the days of greetings and celebrations will be over and the India Bloc Alliance will decide that who will be steering the next government in J&K as the new Chief Minister, the man in charge is bound to go for a herculean task as running the government here will be a challenging endeavour.
For the new Chief Minister the path ahead would be fraught with complexities as the job is expected to exceed far beyond mere governance. Under the new circumstances especially after August 5, 2019, one of the biggest challenges before the new incumbent will be the lack of control over the police force, particularly looking at the scourge of ongoing terrorism.
The police in J&K is under the control of the Home Ministry and under such a situation, the new CM is expected to wait and watch until the men in Khaki or the central security forces will take the appropriate action, that too after the directions from the central government. Although, the Centre has proven its mettle in containing terrorism to a large extent but with ‘toothless’ government in power in J&K without the control on the police, it is likely that centre and state would indulge in the blame game in case things go wary on account of terrorists giving shape to their misdemeanors.
One thing is sure that the path for the new CM would be full of thorns because another hurdle which is archaic and not new to J&K is deep and wide wedge between people of Kashmir Valley and Jammu province. To satiate both the aforesaid societies which are poles apart from each other as far as their aspirations are concerned, it is to be seen how the new helmsman would tackle this complexity without disappointing any of the sides. As discrimination by the governments in the past is a big issue for the people of both regions as none among them were satisfied with the working of successive governments.
As J&K today is expected to get big projects and basic infra under the new dispensation, eliminating the schism would also be a big challenge for the new head of the UT as any decision appearing to be lopsided could create ruckus in the region with people living across the two sides of Pir Panjal Mountain range having serious issues concerning prejudice by the dispensations.
All said and done, the new government needs to maintain a delicate balance while deciding measures for development, and its relationship with the centre as this will play a vital role in running the affairs successfully in this beleaguered region.
