Passing through the main road at Damhal Hanjipora in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) minister Sakina Itoo’s house could be missed by anyone. Unlike other senior National Conference (NC) leaders’ homes, Itoo’s residence seems to be a nondescript structure. It is not adorned with any party paraphernalia like flags or banners to make it stand out from the row of houses lining the road.
The 2022 delimitation of J&K’s constituencies saw the Damhal Hanjipora or D H Pora Assembly seat being carved from the erstwhile Noorabad constituency by adding eight new villages to it from the neighbouring Kulgam seat.
D H Pora is among 24 constituencies headed for the first phase of the J&K polls on September 18, with the NC again fielding Sakina Itoo, 53, from her home turf.
On Tuesday morning, Itoo gets into her vehicle from her house, where she has always lived, to set off for campaigning in the new villages clubbed with the constituency, which comprises about 140 villages now.
At Samnoo, amidst slogans hailing her late father Wali Mohammad Itoo, predicting victory for her and “national” as the NC is called in rural Kashmir, Itoo addresses a gathering of about 150 people from the porch of a worker’s single-storey house. “This dictatorship of the last ten years will end,” Itoo says. “The BJP has taken away all that we held dear to us – our land, our jobs, our identity. This struggle will end only through your vote.”
She tells the people their response to alleged “zulm, jabr aur tashaddud (oppression, duress and violence)” during the last 10 years of alleged “misrule” should be “albain” (plough) – the NC’s poll symbol.
Itoo had won from the Noorabad seat on the NC ticket twice – in 2008 and 1996. Before her poll debut in 1996 at the age of 26 years, the constituency was represented by her father – from 1972 until his assassination in 1994. Both father and daughter have always been associated with the NC.
Itoo had won from the Noorabad seat on the NC ticket twice – in 2008 and 1996. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
After her father’s killing, Itoo quit her MBBS studies mid-way to plunge into mainstream politics in a particularly turbulent time in Kashmir’s history. She herself narrowly escaped militant attacks “at least 15 times”, as per her own recollection, “except in 1994 when militants threw a grenade and I was injured with several splinters in my leg”.
Itoo served as the education minister in the Farooq Abdullah-led government from 1996 to 1999. She then served as the tourism minister in the Farooq Cabinet until 2002. She was also a member of the Omar Abdullah Cabinet during 2008-14, when she was its only woman minister.
At her public meetings, an NC worker carries a dummy voting machine made with wood and foil. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
Itoo says the biggest issue that emerged in J&K over the last several years of the BJP-led Centre’s rule has been the “lack of any avenue to voice dissent or express public resentment”. She says, “By taking away people’s democratic right to elect their political representatives in these years, the Centre took away not just our identity, but also our collective voice as a people.”
At her public meetings, an NC worker carries a dummy voting machine made with wood and foil. He holds it up to the crowds and explains how the machine works. “Sakina ji’s symbol is plough and you have to push the button right next to it to vote for her. Do not rush. Leave the polling booth only after you are satisfied that you have cast your vote,” he tells the people.
At these rallies, there are very few smart phones, with many people listening to the NC workers’ voting machine-related instructions intently. “There are still enough people who do not understand the EVM (electronic voting machine) and we have never had anyone come and explain this to us,” said a 46-year-old local resident Sartaj Ahmad.
National Conference leader and former minister Sakina Itoo rally at Harvaith D.H Pora assembly constituency. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
In the 2014 polls, Itoo had lost to the PDP’s Abdul Majeed Padder with a narrow margin of 3708 votes in Noorabad. Padder later joined the J&K Apni Party, with the PDP fielding Gulzar Ahmad Dar from the seat this time.
At one of her rallies at Harvaith Tuesday, amidst pouring rain and smell of ripe walnuts in the air, Itoo asks people to give the NC “full majority” in the elections to the 90-member J&K Assembly, reeling off pledges made in the party manifesto, which include free monthly cylinders, 200 units of free electricity and job guarantees, among other things. What gets the loudest cheer from the women in the crowd is the promise of free education till graduation for girls.
Several women gathered around Itoo tell her about their sons who have been incarcerated for a long period. “I will follow any hukm (order) you give, please help my children. I have three sons in jail and I don’t know who to go to,” a woman leans in to tell Itoo before breaking down.
Several women gathered around Itoo tell her about their sons who have been incarcerated for a long period. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
A number of young women peer through their windows to catch a glimpse of Itoo canvassing in the village. “The time ahead is the time of the will of the people and you have to do your part to make this a reality,” she tells them.
The second and third phases of the J&K polls will be held on September 25 and October 1 respectively, with the counting of votes scheduled for October 8. The NC is contesting the polls in alliance with the Congress party.
Last time when the J&K Assembly polls took place, in 2014, the PDP got 28 seats with 22.67% votes, while the BJP won 25 seats with a 22.98% vote share. The NC secured 15 seats with 20.77% votes, while the Congress won 12 seats with 18.01% votes in the then state.
The hung poll verdict led to the PDP-BJP forming a coalition government led by Mufti Sayeed. After Sayeed’s demise in 2016, Mehbooba Mufti took over its reins, but the BJP withdrew its support to the government in June 2018 following which J&K has been under the Central rule.
On August 5, 2019, Article 370, which granted special status to J&K, was abrogated, and the state split in two Union Territories (UTs) – J&K and Ladakh.
