India this week kicked off Jammu and Kashmir's first legislative elections in 10 years, with high turnout reported. It is the first time the disputed Himalayan territory has voted since India revoked its autonomous status five years ago, a change residents want to see reversed.
Staggered voting to elect 90 members of the regional parliament got underway on 18 September and is set to conclude on 1 October.
Officials said more than 61 percent of 2.6 million registered voters – tens of thousands of people – cast their ballots in the first 24 constituencies to vote on Wednesday.
The remaining 66 constituencies will go to the polls on 25 September and 1 October with results expected on week later, according to India's electoral commission.
Thirteen political parties are in the race for a majority in the Indian-controlled territory, which is divided into the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and the Jammu district, dominated by Hindus and a stronghold of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The wider Kashmir region is claimed in full by Pakistan and has been the battleground for two of the three wars between India and Pakistan since 1947.
Indian Kashmir headed for polls after a decade of turmoil and direct rule
Quest for autonomy
The legislative election is the first since 2014, and since the government in Delhi stripped Kashmir of its autonomy in 2019.
The brisk turnout took analysts by surprise, as attacks and boycotts by separatists have impacted previous elections in the territory.
Observers say demands to restore full statehood eclipsed previous calls for independence.
“People are going to speak of the misrule and indignities the BJP heaped on the people of Kashmir – the only state to be dismembered and demoted as union territories,” said Salman Soz, a spokesperson for the main opposition Indian National Congress party.
A mixed bag three years after scrapping of Kashmir's special status
Buoyed by its better-than-expected performance in national elections earlier this year, the Congress is looking to drum up support for Kashmir’s former, autonomous status.
“Restoration of Kashmir’s statehood is our first step. We will build pressure on the BJP to act on our demand,” said its leader Rahul Gandhi, a scion of the charismatic Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that once held sway over Kashmir.
Delhi's promises
Prime Minister Modi maintains his government will address Kashmiri aspirations.
“The BJP government will also be the one to restore full statehood status to Jammu and Kashmir,” Modi said during a visit to the territory on 14 September.
“I guarantee to safeguard your rights,” he added, promising to transform Kashmir into a “terror-free and tourist-friendly” region.
The picturesque valley drew more than 2.7 million visitors in 2023 and early figures suggest it could be on track to beat that record this year.
But for Ifra Jan, a spokesperson for the regional opposition party National Conference, the BJP is “choking” tourism in Kashmir.
The party is allied with the Congress against Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, and remains sceptical of promises to restore autonomy.
“Delhi has never trusted whoever is in power here ... They have always tried to dominate,” Conference leader Farooq Abdullah told NDTV ahead of the polls.
“That factor has been responsible for tragedies of the state.”
Issues such as unemployment and development have also dominated political campaigning. The territory has a youth unemployment rate of 18.3 percent, more than double the national average, according to government figures from July 2023.
