The CPM's lone MLA in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami, on Monday, said that the BJP-led centre first tried to stall the Assembly polls and, when that became untenable after the Supreme Court's order in September 2024, did all it could "fix" the 2024 polls.

"But when the people of Jammu and Kashmir were finally given the opportunity to express themselves, they did it loudly and clearly," Tarigami said of the historic win achieved by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) led by the National Conference (NC) and of which the Congress and CPM were parts.

The CPM leader was in conversation with Kerala's minister for local bodies M B Rajesh at the 3rd edition of Kerala Legislature International Book festival held in the Legislative Complex.

The NC emerged victorious with 49 seats, the BJP secured 29, the Congress 6 and the CPM one (Tarigami's fifth consecutive win from Kulgam).

Finding that it was hard to hold off the elections for too long, the Centre put forward a new condition. "At a meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah said that delimitation (reclassification of Assembly constituencies) has to be done first," Tarigami said.

"Our stand was that delimitation could be carried out in 2026, along with the rest of the country. Shah said it was not acceptable and insisted on immediate delimitation. He said delimitation first, election next and then statehood," Tarigami said.

As part of the delimitation, seven seats were increased: six for the Jammu region and one for Kashmir. Tarigami said the increase was arbitrary, without logic and also without the consent of the Delimitation Commission. "Census 2011 figures were clearly not taken into account. Kashmir has a bigger population than Jammu and still five seats were increased in the Jammu area," Tarigami said. The BJP is the dominant party in the Jammu region, and all its 29 seats came from there.

On top of that, five seats were nominated for one community (Hindus). These five MLAs, representing Kashmiri Pandits and those from Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK), possess all the legislative powers and privileges of elected representatives.

"How unfortunate this is. We have never divided ourselves on the basis of faith. They (the BJP) are trying to drive a wedge between communities," Tarigami said.

A telling example was the centre's decision to celebrate the birthday of the former king, Hari Singh, who was reluctant to join the Indian Union. "But they are refusing to observe the birthday of Sheikh Abdulla (Kashmir's first Prime Minister). It was Abdulla who fought the tyranny of the landlords and the king and initiated moves to accede to India," Tarigami said. He called it the "U-turn of history".

Tarigami said that the Centre roped in extremist forces, including Jamaat-e-Islami, and supported them to manipulate the verdict of the people. "The centre, which holds up patriotism and constantly speaks of the need to curb militancy, was seen hobnobbing with elements like Jamaat-e-Islami that has a record of supporting secession and jihad," Tarigami.

However, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, while speaking at Manorama Hortus in November, had a different take on the subject. "This is a very significant election in the sense that all sections of Kashmiri society have happily come forward and participated in the election," Madhav had said.

"There used to be groups that boycotted every election. Even if you held a panchayat election, they would boycott it. They will say that they will not accept the Indian constitution and, therefore, will not recognise this election," he said. He was referring to the Hurriyat Conference and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI).

About JeI, he said it was a party that had always followed the diktats of Pakistan and had never participated in an election. Besides non-participation, it also used to threaten voters. This time, the JeI said Indian elections were transparent and exhorted its followers to vote.

Ram Madhav said the upshot was the highest-ever voter turnout for a Jammu and Kashmir election.

Madhav also said that the success of the election process was a sign that people had accepted the abrogation of Article 370. Tarigami vehemently countered this.

"What happened on August 5, 2019 (the day Article 370 was abrogated) was a disaster. It was the biggest assault on the basic structure of the Constitution," he said.

Tarigami said the Constituent Assembly took five months to deliberate on the need for Article 370. "Parliament took just hours to remove it," he said.

Further, he said that Article 370 was accepted unanimously by a Cabinet that had Shyama Prasad Mukherji, the founder of Bharathiya Jana Sangh, the BJP's forerunner. "There was not a single dissent, not even from Shyama Prasad Mukherjee," Tarigami said.

He said that Article 370 was an assurance given to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. "J&K was the only state on which Pakistan was making a claim. But it was the will of the people of J&K to accede to India through a bond of relationship that agreed to provide certain Constitutional guarantees. That is how Article 370 came into being. That is why it is argued that the Article can be abrogated only with the consent of the J&K Constituent Assembly," Tarigami said. "Now there is neither a Constituent assembly nor an Assembly," he said.

He said that until statehood was granted, the state would be ruled by a nominee of the Centre. "We have not been downgraded to the status of a union territory," he said.