Srinagar/New Delhi, Aug 16 (EFE).- India announced on Friday the dates for regional elections in federally-administered Kashmir, marking the first since the central government revoked the disputed region’s semi-autonomous status five years ago.
The elections will be held in three phases, starting on September 18 and concluding on October 1, with votes counted on October 4. This will end a six-year period of unelected governance in the troubled, Muslim-majority region, which has been under central government control since June 2018.
“People want elections to be conducted there as early as possible,” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told reporters.
“The long queues at the polling booth in J&K during the Lok Sabha (parliamentary) elections are proof that people not only want change but also want to raise their voices by becoming a part of that change. This glimpse of hope and democracy shows that the people want to change the picture. They want to write their own destiny.”
Over 8.7 million people, including 371,000 first-time voters, are expected to participate.
The National Conference, one of the region’s largest parties, welcomed the announcement, expressing hope for free and fair elections.
“Better late than never. The National Conference was ready for this day and will soon begin its election campaign,” former chief minister and party vice president Omar Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar, the regional capital.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader MY Tarigami, a veteran lawmaker, also welcomed the decision told assembly election “despite the long delay.”
These elections will be the first since 2014, when the last government was elected before being toppled in June 2018. Since then, the region has been governed by an administrator appointed by New Delhi, who has implemented numerous changes, including curtailing the powers of any future regional government.
The lieutenant governor now holds significant authority, including the final say on senior bureaucrats, police, and law enforcement. The future regional government will require the lieutenant governor’s approval for key decisions, further limiting its autonomy.
Although the elections will restore some democratic processes, they fall short of granting full statehood, which would allow the region to make laws and administer without central approval.
Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status was revoked on August 5, 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government downgraded the region to two federally-controlled union territories.
The government’s rationale was to bring “peace and development” to an area battered by decades of armed rebellion.
The region voted in the last general elections, in which Modi secured re-election for his third consecutive term at the center.
Despite the changes, violence continues in the region, driven by a separatist movement seeking independence or accession to Pakistan, which has resulted in thousands of deaths, mostly civilians, since 1989. EFE
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