As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, it is quite logical that the people should stop believing in the promises made by different political parties in run up to polls because in many instances the electorate has been deceived by the political class by not fulfilling the same even after receiving absolute mandate.
In this regard, the latest backtracking of a poll promise by the party in power in J&K is the proposal of a 20 per cent tariff hike in electricity bills for peak hours in Kashmir Valley. This is simply an unjustified move because the party in power in J&K viz. the National Conference had promised 200 units of free electricity to every household in the Union Territory during the campaigning for the Assembly polls but now instead of fulfilling the aforementioned promise, the concerned quarters in the government led by NC leader Omar Abdullah have come up with a proposal to hike the power tariff by 20 percent during the peak hours in Valley to cope up the load shedding during the harsh winter season.
This is simply unfair and has irked the affected lot which was expecting a relief from the government and not something harsh and ‘iniquitous’ like this unjust surcharge on power bills. There is likelihood that if this proposal for Kashmir gets a nod, the days are not far when the same hike will be implemented in the Jammu region also during the peak summer months.
It is for sure that if the Omar Abdullah government will not revisit this move, it is likely that the backlash in this matter can affect his party’s performance in the coming times. The main opposition party in J&K viz. BJP has been highlighting this ‘break of promise’ through a widespread campaign with its leadership decrying the proposal by claiming that after implementation the same would hit the pockets of people badly.
In this context, reportedly Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma has accused NC of committing an “electoral fraud” by promising free electricity ahead of the polls and now burdening the public with a proposed 20 per cent tariff hike.
Although, the proposal by the NC government is nothing but a U-turn on its electoral promise but the opposition party BJP is also not fair in many cases when it comes to fulfillment of election promises because allegedly there are many unfulfilled promises lying in its volley also with Rs 15 lakh to every individual across the country topping the list, as no one has received this amount even after more than a decade of BJP Government in the Centre.
Looking into this whole gamut, it becomes necessary for the people to think a thousand times before believing in what the political leadership promises. It will be much better to gauge the parties’ performance in their last tenures before supporting any of these in any of the upcoming polls.
