Kashmiris vote in crucial elections, 1st after loss of autonomy

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – Polls opened early Wednesday in Indian-administered Kashmir for assembly elections, the first since 2014.

Voting will be held in three phases – Sept. 18, Sept. 25 and Oct. 1 — followed by counting and results on Oct. 8.

The elections are the first since India scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s special autonomy in August 2019.

According to the Election Commission of India, nearly 9 million people are registered to vote for the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

The seats are distributed between the two areas that together make up the union territory – 47 for Kashmir and 43 for Jammu.

A total of 219 candidates are in the fray for the 24 constituencies in the first phase, including 16 in southern Kashmir districts.

From 2018 to Aug. 5, 2019, New Delhi ruled the region directly through a governor who wielded as much authority as an elected government.

It was then made a federally ruled territory and has since been under a lieutenant governor with even more powers.

The vote will lead to a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly, as Jammu and Kashmir will remain a union territory under direct federal control and the Indian parliament will be its top legislature.

Before its autonomy was scrapped, the region had its own constitution, a flag and a bicameral assembly that could make laws independently of India’s parliament.