New Delhi, Sep 18 (EFE).- The disputed Indian-controlled region of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday kicked off its assembly elections in a decade.
Kashmiri polling officials carry sealed Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) after collecting them from a distribution center on the eve of the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election in Pulwama south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 17 September 2024. EFE-EPA/FAROOQ KHAN
These are also the first assembly elections in Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the region of the semi-autonomous status that it had enjoyed for almost a century.
Polling officials check their Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) before leaving for their respective polling stations on the eve of the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election in Pulwama south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 17 September 2024. EFE-EPA/FAROOQ KHAN
Images from polling stations showed the first voters waiting at the doors for the start of voting while the streets were calm and under military control.
Elections in this Muslim-majority region in the past have often been marked with violence and boycotts.
The Himalayan region, among one of the most militarized areas in the world, woke up on Wednesday to a deployment of tens of thousands of troops to ensure security during the first phase of voting, in which 2.3 million people are eligible to vote.
Owing to security and organizational measures, only part of the territory will vote in the first phase while two other areas will vote on Sep. 25 and Oct. 1.
“As the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections begins, I urge all those in constituencies going to the polls today to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy. I particularly call upon young and first-time voters to exercise their franchise,” India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said in a post on X.
The elections will see Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contest against the traditional regional parties.
The National Conference, with a strong base in the Kashmir valley, has allied itself with the Congress Party, while the BJP, dominant in the Hindu-majority Jammu belt, is running independently. EFE
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