TeresaGuercio23 at 07:17, 10 January 2026

2026-01-10T07:17:59Z

MetaBOT: robot: added template for meta tags

2023-07-08T14:54:50Z

robot: added template for meta tags

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:24, 8 July 2023
Line 100:		Line 100:

	{{Jammu and Kashmir elections}}		{{Jammu and Kashmir elections}}

			{{#seo:
			\|keywords=
			\|description=
			}}

	[[Category:1977 State Assembly elections in India\|Jammu and Kashmir]]		[[Category:1977 State Assembly elections in India\|Jammu and Kashmir]]
	[[Category: State Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir\|1977]]		[[Category: State Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir\|1977]]
	[[Category:1970s in Jammu and Kashmir\|1977]]		[[Category:1970s in Jammu and Kashmir\|1977]]

->Kautilya3: Avoid redirect

2022-01-05T19:39:01Z

Avoid redirect

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1977 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election
| country = India
| type = parliamentary
| previous_election = 1972 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election
| previous_year = 1972
| previous_mps =
| election_date = 9 July 1977
| next_election = 1983 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election
| next_year = 1983
| seats_for_election= all 76 seats in [[Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]]
| majority_seats = 39
| opinion_polls =
| turnout = 67.2%

| image1 = [[File:JKNC-flag.svg|100x90px]]
| leader1 = [[Sheikh Abdullah]]
| party1 = Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
| leader_since1 =
| leaders_seat1 =
| last_election1 = -
| seats1 = 47
| seat_change1 = {{increase}} 47

| image4 =
|-
| party4 = Indian National Congress
| leader_since4 =
| leaders_seat4 =
| last_election4 = 58
| seats4 = 11
| seat_change4 = {{decrease}} 46

| image2 =
|-
| leader2 =
| party2 = Janata Party
| leader_since2 =
| leaders_seat2 =
| last_election2 = -
| seats2 = 13
| seat_change2 = {{increase}} 13

| image5 =
| leader5 =
| party5 = [[Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir|Jamaat-e-Islami]]
| leader_since5 =
| leaders_seat5 =
| last_election5 =
| seats5 = 1
| seat_change5 = {{decrease}} 4

| title = Chief Minister
| before_election = [[Sheikh Abdullah]]
| before_party = Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
| after_election = [[Sheikh Abdullah]]
| after_party = Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
}}

'''Elections for the [[India]]n [[States and territories of India|state]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]''' were held over June 1977,<ref>[http://www.elections.in/jammu-and-kashmir/assembly-constituencies/1977-election-results.html 1977 J&K elections]</ref> which are generally regarded as the first 'free and fair' elections in the state.{{sfn|Guha, India after Gandhi|2008|loc=Section 23.III}}
[[Jammu & Kashmir National Conference]], newly revived from the former [[Plebiscite Front]], won an overwhelming majority and re-elected [[Sheikh Abdullah]] as the Chief Minister.<ref>[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/SR_KeyHighLights/SE_1977/StatisticalReport_JK_77.pdf Statistical report J&K 1977]</ref>

==Background==
After reaching the [[1974 Indira-Sheikh accord]], [[Sheikh Abdullah]] was elected as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir by the ruling [[Indian National Congress]] party in the state legislature (which had in fact been the original National Conference founded by Abdullah in 1930s but merged into Congress before the [[1967 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election|1967 elections]]). Abdullah remained in power during the [[Indian Emergency|National Emergency]] imposed by [[Indira Gandhi]] in 1975. After the Emergency was lifted, the [[Janata Party]] came to power in the Centre in the [[1977 Indian general election|1977 general election]].{{sfn|Guha, India after Gandhi|2008|loc=Chapter 23}}

Elections were called for the state Legislative Assembly in June 1977. Sheikh Abdullah now revived the National Conference from the erstwhile [[Plebiscite Front]]. The National Conference and Congress met head-on as equals, the first time such an electoral contest occurred since the State's Accession in 1947. The Prime Minister [[Morarji Desai]] (of the Janata Party) took steps to strengthen security in the state and declared that any rigging would be severely punished. This had a 'salutary effect' in the political atmosphere in the state witnessing its first 'free and fair' election.<ref>{{harvnb|Widmalm, The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir|1997|pp=1006–1007}}; {{harvnb|Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective|2002|pp=57–58}}</ref>

The revival of the National Conference was greeted with great enthusiasm in the [[Kashmir Valley]]. In the words of Kashmiri, "the entire valley was red with N. C. flags. Every house and every market stood decorated with bunting."{{sfn|Guha, India after Gandhi|2008|loc=Section 23.III}}

==Results==
The National Conference won the majority in the Assembly with 47 of the 76 seats.{{sfn|Widmalm, The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir|1997|p=1007}} Whereas it won 40 of the 42 seats in the [[Kashmir Valley]], it was able to win only 7 seats out of 32 in the [[Jammu Division|Jammu province]].{{sfn|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003|pp=89-90}}

The Indian National Congress (former National Conference, which had been in power since the State's accession) was reduced to third place, winning 11 seats in Jammu and none in the Valley.{{sfn|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003|pp=89-90}}

The Janata Party (which had incorporated the former [[Jammu Praja Parishad]]) won 13 seats, its best performance so far. In addition to 11 seats in Jammu, it won 2 seats in the Valley for the first time.{{sfn|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003|pp=89-90}}

Also significant is the fact that [[Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir|Jamaat-e-Islami]] won only one seat, down from 5 seats in the previous Assembly.{{sfn|Widmalm, The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir|1997|p=1007}}

==Government formation==
Sheikh Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the State following the election.[[Mirza Afzal Beg]] was sworn in as the [[Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir]] .

By the end of the 1970s, the seventy-year-old Sheikh Abdullah anointed his son [[Farooq Abdullah]] as his successor. Following Sheikh's death in 1982, Farooq Abdullah was appointed as the Chief Minister. The National Conference government completed a full five-year term.{{sfn|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003|p=90}}

Before his death, Sheikh Abdullah initiated a controversial 'Grant of Permit for Resettlement' bill in the State's Legislative Assembly. As per the bill, any state subject of Jammu and Kashmir before 14 May 1954 or any of his descendants could apply for resettlement in the State provided they swore allegiance to both the [[Constitution of India|Indian Constitution]] and the [[Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir|Constitution of the State]]. The bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly after Sheikh's death, but it aroused fears among the Hindus of Jammu that Pakistani sympathizers and agents could cross into the State and create tensions. The Central government forced Farooq Abdullah to refer the bill to the [[Supreme Court of India]] where it has been put into cold storage.{{sfn|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2003|pp=129–130}}

==Commentary==
All the elections held in Jammu and Kashmir before 1977 were plagued with corrupt electoral practices.{{sfn|Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective|2002|p=57}} The elections of 1977 represented a 'democratic breakthrough', according to scholar Steve Widmalm. Politician [[Bhim Singh (politician)|Bhim Singh]] stated, 'Morarji Desai openly declared that anyone who would attempt to pursue some form of rigging would be severely punished, and this was quite effective'. The Congress party in the Central Government has therefore been regarded as an obstacle to the State's democratic functioning. The party regarded Jammu and Kashmir to be a sensitive border state, which was not 'ready for democracy'. Building Indian nationalism was considered far more important. Activist [[Balraj Puri]] has disagreed with the sentiment. In his view, democratic functioning was indeed a prerequisite to integration and national unity. As a result of the democratization process, he has asserted that there were ten years of peace with 'no fundamentalism, no secessionism, and no communalism'. JKLF's [[Amanullah Khan (JKLF)|Amanullah Khan]] has also endorsed the assessment. The observers he sent to the Kashmir Valley during the early 1980s reported that the situation was not conducive to inciting a rebellion.{{sfn|Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective|2002|pp=57–61}} Journalist [[Tavleen Singh]] who covered the subsequent Assembly election in 1983 asked people wherever she went whether they regarded the plebiscite as an issue. 'Almost everywhere the answer was an emphatic no. People said that the past was dead and they were participating in this election as Indians,' she recounted.{{sfn|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2003|p=131}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation |first=Sumantra |last=Bose |author-link=Sumantra Bose |title=Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-674-01173-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ACMe9WBdNAC |ref={{sfnref|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003}}}}
* {{citation |first=Ramachandra |last=Guha |author-link=Ramachandra Guha |title=India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy |publisher=Pan Macmillan |year=2008 |isbn=978-0330396110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=29lXtwoeA44C |ref={{sfnref|Guha, India after Gandhi|2008}}}}
* {{citation |last=Schofield |first=Victoria |author-link=Victoria Schofield |title=Kashmir in Conflict |publisher=I. B. Taurus & Co |location=London and New York |year=2003 |orig-year=First published in 2000 |isbn=1860648983 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rkTetMfI6QkC |ref={{sfnref|Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict|2003}}}}
* {{citation |first=Sten |last=Widmalm |title=The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir |journal=Asian Survey |volume=37 |number=11 |date= November 1997 |pages=1005–1030 |jstor=2645738 |ref={{sfnref|Widmalm, The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir|1997}} |doi=10.2307/2645738}}
* {{citation |last=Widmalm |first=Sten |title=Kashmir in Comparative Perspective: Democracy and Violent Separatism in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eOnwrHsyXDQC |year=2002 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7007-1578-7 |ref={{sfnref|Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective|2002}}}}

{{Jammu and Kashmir elections}}

[[Category:1977 State Assembly elections in India|Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category: State Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir|1977]]
[[Category:1970s in Jammu and Kashmir|1977]]

1977 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election - Revision history

TeresaGuercio23 at 07:17, 10 January 2026

MetaBOT: robot: added template for meta tags

->Kautilya3: Avoid redirect