Opposition in J&K accuses govt of sabotaging campaigns
Opposition leaders in India's troubled Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) valley have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration of denying or cancelling permissions to hold campaign events, to help his party's "proxies".
Omar Abdullah, a leader of the largest regional political party, the National Conference, said Modi's government was trying to sabotage his campaign ahead of voting in the first of Kashmir's three seats on Monday.
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is skipping elections in Kashmir for the first time since 1996, which analysts and politicians in the region say belies his narrative of integrating Kashmir with the rest of the country and bringing peace and normality to the valley ravaged by a 35-year-old uprising against India's rule.
In 2019, Modi revoked Jammu and Kashmir state's partial autonomy, removed its statehood and divided it into two federally-controlled territories: Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu-dominated Jammu, and a mountainous Buddhist territory of Ladakh.
While the BJP has not fielded any candidate in Kashmir's three seats, it has said that, as part of its grand strategy, it would instead support other smaller regional parties, without naming which.
In a letter to the federal polls watchdog, Election Commission of India, on Thursday, Abdullah said the police cancelled permissions for his rallies, asking him to reschedule without providing any reasons.
He said on social media platform X that it was done to help the BJP's "proxy candidates". His rival Mehbooba Mufti, who heads other regional political powerhouse People's Democratic Party (PDP), also accused the police of not allowing her to hold campaign events.
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