India’s J&K votes in first regional polls in a decade

Voters queued outside polling stations in India's Jammu and Kashmir yesterday to vote in the first provincial election being held in a decade in the Himalayan region that has grappled with years of militant violence.

The nine million registered voters are choosing members for the region's 90-seat legislature in the three-phase election. Votes will be counted on October 8 and results expected the same day.

"I gave my vote for development. For the last ten years, we were unable to exercise our democratic right and I am happy that ... I am able to cast my ballot," said Mohammad Asim Bhat, a 23-year-old first-time voter.

Jammu and Kashmir is India's only Muslim-majority territory and has been at the centre of a dispute with neighbouring Pakistan since 1947. India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part, after having fought two of their three wars over the region.

Until 2019, Indian-ruled Jammu and Kashmir had a special status of partial autonomy that was revoked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld the government's decision and set a deadline of September 30 this year for local polls to be held.

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) government has said that revoking the region's special status restored normalcy in the area and helped its development. "As the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections begins, I urge all ... to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy," Modi said on X.