The announcement of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections after a long and excruciating wait has brought relief in the region but a massive bureaucratic shuffle hours ahead of the move has raised fresh doubts about the government’s intent.

The last Assembly elections here were held in 2014, but the new Assembly will be a pale shadow of itself given the unprecedented changes in the past five years that have eroded much of its power.

But the jubilation among sections of the population was hard to miss.

“The indelible ink mark from the recent elections hasn’t gone & we are back in election mode. Bring it on! We are ready!” former chief minister Omar Abdullah said on X, posting a picture of his finger with the ink mark after the Lok Sabha polls.

The National Conference leader told reporters that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been waiting for elections for a long time. “They have been without a government since 2018 for which they have paid a price. But better late than never,” he said.

The former chief minister accused lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha of making “innumerable transfers” hours ahead of the election announcement to help the BJP and its allied parties.

“We have doubts that the BJP government in Delhi, which has placed the lieutenant governor here, has made these transfers to help the BJP and its allied parties, B, C and D teams. The Election Commission of India should immediately take notice of it and examine them and put a stop on transfers which are outside its guidelines,” Omar said.

The cautious optimism in the Valley was dulled by a massive shuffle of over 200 officers in civil and police departments that preceded the poll announcement.

Iltija Mufti, daughter and media adviser of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, welcomed the elections but said the Centre was doing them no favour.

“After our semi-autonomous status was revoked, the people of Jammu and Kashmir belonging to all walks of life have been suffering. We are witnessing babudom where people are thrust on us from above and function like viceroys. They have no political accountability. We are happy that issues of people will be resolved,” Iltija said.

For the ordinary people on the streets the elections have offered hope that their lives might change for the better.

“I don’t have a count of how many times we were asked to line up for government functions where we had to wake up in the middle of the night, leave home before dawn to listen to top dignitaries or hoist the Tricolour. It should come from the heart, not force. Its worst victim has been education, which was our least priority,” the principal of a higher secondary school said.