India’s prime minister’s hopes of his party taking power in Kashmir were dashed on Tuesday when his BJP lost the first election since the national government stripped the region of its autonomy and statehood.
The elections instead gave a landslide victory to India’s main opposition Congress and its regional partner, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), which formed a coalition to defeat Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Rules at national level.
According to the results released on Tuesday afternoon, the alliance between the Congress and the JKNC won 48 seats, giving them a comfortable majority, while the BJP won 29 seats.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir has been disputed between India and Pakistan since independence, with three wars fought over the territory, which is now partially controlled by both countries. Since the 1990s, it has also been home to a violent militant insurgency loyal to and backed by Pakistan that has killed tens of thousands of people and is at the center of the conflict.
Indian-administered Kashmir has not held local elections for a decade. The election, which began in phases in September, was seen as particularly important because, from 2019, the Modi government abrogated Article 370, which granted special autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir after independence.
The Modi government’s decision to revoke Kashmir’s autonomy is a long-standing pledge of his Hindu nationalist party. The move followed a severe crackdown and was angered by Kashmiris, who saw it as an attack on Kashmiri identity and an attempt to depopulate the country’s only Muslim-majority region.
While local elections in Kashmir have historically been marred by boycotts and low voter turnout, many voters described it as their first chance to have a political voice and express their displeasure with the Modi government’s actions since the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago. With 64% of the vote, the elections were defined by hectic campaigning and quiet voting.
Waqar Ahmed Wani, a student from Srinagar, said: “BJP has attacked the people of Kashmir in the last 5 years. There is no freedom to say anything; Hopefully that will change.”
Speaking to the media after the results were announced, JKNC President Omar Abdullah, who is to be sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said that after a long time democracy has prevailed in Jammu and Kashmir and called on Modi to restore the statehood. region.
“With this order, one thing is clear, the BJP tried to target and weaken us, but their own presence was destroyed,” said Abdullah, one of the political leaders jailed by the Modi government in the 2019 crackdown.
The victory will give a boost to the Congress and the opposition Indian Alliance. It had already beaten expectations in June’s general election, returning Modi and the BJP to power for a third term, but with a narrow majority.
Despite the loss, the BJP leadership in Kashmir was positive about the party’s dominant results, especially in the Hindu-majority region.
Jitendra Singh, a senior BJP leader and a minister in the Modi government, said, “This is the best performance of the BJP so far. “We contested this election purely on the issue of development and tried to rise above caste, religion and creed and gave this election a new culture.”
The BJP had reason to celebrate elsewhere as it managed to take power in the state of Haryana, with local election results announced on Tuesday that ensured the party’s continued dominance in the so-called “Hindi heartland” of northern India.
Thanks to measures brought in by Modi after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, the central BJP government has considerable powers over Kashmir, while the regional assembly has been largely stripped of its influence and plays a ceremonial role.
Abdul Majeed Malik, a Kashmiri voter, said he doubted the elections would bring significant change, but said there was “a sense of relief that the BJP has been contained”.
“This government can act as a buffer between New Delhi and the people of Kashmir,” he said. “They can stop further attacks on our identity and rights.”
