administered by Indians Voters in Kashmir supported opposition parties to head the region’s assembly, giving the region’s first elected administration since the unrest-plagued Himalayan state was placed under direct control of New Delhi on Tuesday.
In 2019, Kashmir’s limited autonomy over its affairs was abruptly revoked by the government of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leading to mass arrests and a months-long communications blackout.
Since then, there hasn’t been an elected local administration in the roughly 12 million-person Muslim-majority region that is split between India and Pakistan and is fully claimed by both.
Instead, it has been ruled by a governor appointed by New Delhi.While voters took part in national elections in June when Modi won a third term in power, these were the first local elections since 2014.
Supporters rejoiced as the results showed that the opposition National Conference (NC) and Congress parties had allied to establish a government.
According to data from the Election Commission, the Congress and the National Conference had taken 48 of the assembly’s 90 seats, with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trailing far behind with 29.
A de facto referendum on the federal government’s plan to revoke the territory’s special status was what some dubbed the vote.
“The people have given their judgement against what New Delhi did,” social activist Iqbal Ahmad Bhat said.
But Modi said he was “proud” of the BJP’s performance, saying that enthusiasm for the election was reflective of “the people’s belief in democracy”.
Half a million Indian troops are deployed in the far northern region, battling a 35-year insurgency in which tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed, including dozens this year.
