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Kashmiris vote in fourth phase of India's mega election
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government's decision in 2019 to bring Kashmir under direct rule by New Delhi was allegedly resented among the region's residents, who will be voting for the first time since the move.
India's six-week election resumed on May.13. / iStock photo
India's six-week election resumed on May.13 including in Kashmir, where residents will vote for the first time after the BJP’s cancellation of their disputed territory's semi-autonomy in 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains popular across much of India and his party is widely expected to win the poll when it concludes early next month.
But his government's decision in 2019 to bring Kashmir under its direct rule, and the subsequent clampdown, is said to have been allegedly resented among the region's residents, who will be voting for the first time since the move.
"What we're telling voters now is that you have to make your voice heard," said former chief minister Omar Abdullah, whose National Conference party is campaigning for the restoration of Kashmir's former semi-autonomy.
"The point of view that we want people to send out is that what happened... is not acceptable to them," he told AFP.
Violence has dwindled since the Indian portion of the territory was brought under direct rule five years ago.
Modi's government says its cancelling of Kashmir's special status has brought "peace and development", and it has consistently claimed the move was supported by Kashmiris.
But his party has not fielded any candidates in the Kashmir valley for the first time since 1996.
"They would lose, simple as that," political analyst and historian Sidiq Wahid told AFP last week, adding that Kashmiris saw the vote as a "referendum" on Modi's policies.
The BJP has appealed to voters to instead support smaller and newly created parties that have publicly aligned with Modi's policies.
India's election is conducted in seven phases over six weeks to ease the immense logistical burden of staging the democratic exercise in the world's most populous country.
More than 968 million people are eligible to vote in India's election, with the final round of polling on June.1 and results expected three days later.
Turnout so far has declined significantly from the last national poll in 2019, according to election commission figures. Analysts have blamed widespread expectations that Modi will easily win a third term and hotter-than-average temperatures heading into the summer.
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