When elections returned to Jammu and Kashmir after five long years, the mood was one of anticipation. The people who had lived without local representatives since the revocation of Article 370 in August 2019 were eager to reclaim a sense of agency. Ballot boxes were filled with more than votes. They carried a hope that democracy could heal the deep wounds left by political downgrading and disenfranchisement.

The National Conference (NC) became the vessel for this hope. Its manifesto read like a promise of redemption: restoration of statehood, return of special status, removal of the Public Safety Act, release of political prisoners, rationalization of reservation policies, and free electricity and gas for households. For many, these promises sounded like the path to reclaiming dignity and

See Full Page