2.3 million voters have been called to the polls to elect 24 of the 90 members of the new Legislative Assembly. These are the first elections since 2019, when the central government revoked the region’s partial autonomy. A high turnout is expected, but the results are likely to show a mixed political picture.
Srinagar – () – 2.3 million voters were called to the polls today in Kashmir – the Muslim-majority region disputed between India and Pakistan – to elect the 24 members who will make up the local Legislative Assembly. After the first stage today, the second and third stages will take place on September 25 and October 1 (the day when voting also takes place in Haryana), and the results are expected on October 8. At 5 pm (local time), one hour after the polls closed, the 24-member Legislative Assembly will be elected. a participation was recorded of just over 58%. In total, there are nearly nine million Kashmiri voters registered to participate in the electoral process, and 90 members of the Legislative Assembly who will be elected from among hundreds of candidates.
These are the first elections since 2014, when the Peoples Democratic Party won 11 of the 24 seats up for grabs led by former governor Mehbooba Mufti, who had been an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ultra-nationalist Hindu party that controls the national government.
But these are also the first elections since 2019, when the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the region’s special status, separating it from Ladakh and turning it into a “Union Territory” (like, for example, the capital, the Andaman Islands or the Lakshadweep Islands) under the name of Jammu and Kashmir, which came under the control of the central administration.
The BJP also restructured the constituencies, adding six seats to the predominantly Hindu Jammu division and just one to Kashmir, which currently has 47. In 2014, the BJP had won 25 seats out of 37 (now 43) in Jammu.
During the election campaign, the BJP – which faced off with the Congress, the opposition party allied to the National Conference, the most popular local political party – repeatedly said that it had included the issue of the Return of the Panditsthe Hindus who in the 1990s, during the attacks of Islamic extremists, left the Kashmir Valley and migrated to Jammu.
The Congress, on the other hand, has portrayed the BJP-imposed government since 2019 as a failure and has repeatedly highlighted the figures on youth unemployment in Kashmir, which has risen to over 18% according to official data released in July, more than double the national average.
Armed groups in favour of unification with Pakistan (which fought several wars for control of the region after partition in 1947) had previously targeted the ballot box, and pro-independence candidates, including those from the Jamaat-e-Islami, had boycotted elections. But in the national elections held in April-May (in which the BJP won 24% of the vote in Kashmir) the turnout rate was almost 60%, the highest level recorded in the past 35 years.
Sheikh Abdul Rashid, of the Awami Ittehad Party (itself an ally of the Jamaat-e-Islami), was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Baramulla constituency in June, despite being in jail (he was granted bail a week ago) on charges of financing terrorism, beating Omar Abdullah, the former governor of the region and leader of the National Conference.
In this political landscape, commentators expect at the very least a high turnout and results that will also be difficult to decipher due to the high number of candidates who have run as independents. “These elections could give people a sense of power at the local level, after having been subjected to continuous disempowerment since 2019,” commented a local analyst anonymously.
However, following the abrogation of Article 370, which granted partial autonomy to Kashmir, the new local government will have limited powers over a number of issues, including education and taxation. “We know that this Assembly will not have much power,” a fruit farmer told local media. “But what if our vote forces Delhi to reconsider its strategy and grant us statehood?”
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