Indian Kashmir elected its first government in 10 years with millions voting for a coalition of two opposition parties in the Himalayan region.
The National Conference and Congress secured 48 of the 90 seats in the state assembly, which was dissolved in 2018 when Kashmir came under federal rule.
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 29 seats, dominating the Hindu-majority constituencies in the predominantly Muslim region of Kashmir.
The remaining 13 went to smaller parties or individuals; the Election Commission said hailing the staggered balloting “a resounding statement in favour of democracy.”
India’s Supreme Court had set 30 September as the deadline for the elections in Kashmir.
Landmark polls
The polls were also the first since 2019 when India’s BJP government stripped Kashmir’s autonomy and demoted it as a federal territory after splitting the region into two.
The government in Delhi says the action dealt a blow to festering militancy in Kashmir and boosted the economy of the Himalayan region, dependent on farming and tourism.
Some 5.6 million of Kashmir’s nearly nine million voters stamped ballot papers in the three-phased election which began on 18 September with results declared on Tuesday.
Kashmir holds first regional election since India scrapped its special status
Handwara, a militant hotbed, posted a voter turnout of nearly 73 percent, Kashmir’s highest.
Several anti-India separatist outfits also ran for office in Kashmir, a subject of two of the three wars between India and Pakistan who hold the region in parts but claim the region in full.
Amina Jan, 19, was among the tens of thousands of young people who voted for the first time in Kashmir where unemployment stood at 18.3 percent, more than double the national average.
“I am hopeful my vote will change our situation,” she told the media during the balloting.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the winning team in Kashmir, where his BJP in 2014 had stitched a coalition government which fell apart four years later.
“This is the victory of the Indian constitution and democracy,” he said as the national election watchdog declared poll results in Haryana state that gave Modi’s BJP the mandate for a rare third term.
Modi addressing his followers attacked bitter rival the Congress, which won 37 of Haryana’s 90 seats.
“Many conspiracies are being hatched to weaken India’s democracy, its economy and social fabric... national parties like the Congress and their allies are involved in this game,” he insisted.
Statehood calls
In Kashmir, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said his government will campaign for the restoration of statehood and allayed fears of bias against Hindus who voted for the BJP.
“I would expect the incumbent government to travel to Delhi and meet the honourable prime minister, home minister and others and to ask them to live up to the promise they made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
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“We will work with the government of India to have statehood restored and if that does not then we would look at what options are available with us,” added Abdullah, the chief minister designate.
Observers say without full-fledged statehood, the regional government will have limited authority and may have a federal governor as its boss.
On Monday, two Kashmiri campaigners petitioned the Supreme Court to act.
"There is no impediment to security concerns, violence or any other disturbances which would hinder or prevent the restoration of statehood,” activists Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik said in a joint appeal.
Ram Madhav, an influential BJP ideologue, promised statehood but warned the incoming government against demanding the release of jailed separatists in negotiations for statehood.
“That becomes a problem for larger security issues,” he said but did not specify a date for statehood’s restoration in the region of 12 million.
