{"id":8983,"date":"2024-05-12T18:46:21","date_gmt":"2024-05-12T18:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8983"},"modified":"2024-05-12T18:46:21","modified_gmt":"2024-05-12T18:46:21","slug":"indian-kashmir-voters-prepare-for-historic-election-amid-political-shifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8983","title":{"rendered":"Indian Kashmir voters prepare for historic election amid political shifts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Srinagar \u2014\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Voters in Indian Kashmir are going to the polls from May 13 through May 25 to select their representatives in the Indian parliament. Local media reports claim that more than 1.7 million voters will determine the outcome for 24 candidates competing for the Srinagar constituency. <\/p>\n
This is part of India\u2019s ongoing general elections, which began in late April and run through June. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third term.<\/p>\n
The vote comes nearly five years after the Modi government stripped Muslim majority Kashmir of its semiautonomous status. Kashmir’s loss of its special status in August 2019 led to the division of the region into two federal territories \u2014 Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Both areas are ruled by the central government and have no legislatures of their own.<\/p>\n
Modi\u2019s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is not contesting the elections in Indian Kashmir. News reports say the move signals ongoing discontent over the 2019 move and there is speculation BJP candidates would have lost.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nIndian paramilitary soldiers arrive to guard a venue for the distribution of Electronic Voting Machines and other election material in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, May 12, 2024.<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Residents say the Indian general elections are important for the people of Kashmir. They maintain that the Modi government has robbed the region of rights that were guaranteed to them under the Indian constitution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s left for us locals? Our land is given to non-locals, jobs are taken by them too, our electricity is sent to other Indian states and everywhere you look, high-ranking officials are not from Jammu and Kashmir,\u201d Fayaz Ahmad Malik, a resident, told VOA during a rally at Fateh Kadal, an area in Indian Kashmir\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have not voted in my life ever before but today I feel it is necessary because we are suffering. Modi and his party want to destroy us, but we have to stop him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nLocals listen to the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir at an election rally organized by his party, the National Conference, in the Palpora area of Srinagar. (Credit: Wasim Nabi for VOA)<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Modi visited Indian Kashmir in March for the first time since the region lost its special status. Amid tight security, he told a crowd that had packed the Bakshi Stadium in the region’s capital, Srinagar, that Kashmir has seen significant changes and prospered since his government acted in 2019.<\/p>\n
Muzamil Maqbool, a political analyst and host of the podcast show Plain Talk, told VOA that the Kashmir valley is expected to see record-breaking voter turnout. He said the situation on the ground has changed since 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government of India always wanted to increase the voting percentage here because for years and decades Kashmir has witnessed a massive boycott,\u201d Maqbool said. \u201cThe government of India, political institutions and others always wanted Kashmiris to vote irrespective of which candidate will be chosen and the government of India has highly succeeded in that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nMehbooba Mufti, President of Peoples Democratic Party, addresses a gathering at Faiteh Kadal area of Srinagar. (Credit: Wasim Nabi for VOA)<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Maqbool believes people want to cast their vote and support their candidates openly. He added that young people, first time voters especially from central Kashmir, south and north Kashmir, are very eager to show the power of voting in democracy.<\/p>\n
Gul Mohammad Khan, a resident of Srinagar, said that he expects a strong candidate who would dare to challenge Modi and other Hindu leaders openly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past no Kashmiri politician supporting India has shown such courage. They instead have aligned themselves with New Delhi\u2019s interests,\u201d Khan said. \u201cI hope for a leader who can make Indian leaders dance to his tune,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Professor Noor Baba, another political analyst, told VOA that competition in Kashmir will be primarily between two regional political parties; the National Conference, or NC, and the People\u2019s Democratic Party, or the PDP.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nAga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi is a candidate of the National Conference in Srinagar. He is considered as a strong candidate because he has a huge support of his voters spread across the region. (Credit: Wasim Nabi for VOA)<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Modi’s ruling party, Baba said, chose not to contest voting in Kashmir despite significant investment it made in reshaping politics in the area. India\u2019s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, or INC, is supporting the NC.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Srinagar, the NC candidate has the support of his voters while the PDP candidate has also gained sympathy as he has been a victim of post-2019 politics,\u201d Baba said.<\/p>\n
Nasir Aslam Wani, the National Conference provincial president, and Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, National Conference\u2019s candidate for Srinagar, were contacted for comments but their phones were switched off.<\/p>\n
\u201cNC has an advantage due to its longer historical presence and stronger social base.<\/p>\n
There is a perception that PDP played a role in the political rehabilitation of the BJP in the politics of the erstwhile state by forming a government with it as its alliance partner. It played a key role in facilitating BJP\u2019s reshaping politics in Kashmir,\u201d Baba added. <\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nAltaf Bukhari, businessman turned politician, has emerged as a strong political figure after he formed his own party known as Apni party. (Credit: Wasim Nabi for VOA)<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Just before the ruling BJP revoked Kashmir\u2019s special status in 2019, the party withdrew its support from the PDP, ending their alliance. The PDP is now a bitter rival to Modi\u2019s party.<\/p>\n
The \u201c2024 elections in Kashmir are different from previous ones. Expectations are high, especially among the youth, who seek candidates to truly represent them in the Indian parliament,\u201d said Tariq Ahmad Bhat, a senior youth leader of the People\u2019s Democratic Party, to VOA. <\/p>\n
\u201cPreviously the public viewed elections negatively, believing that voting would not make any difference. Today I can see the change. People have realized that undeserving candidates cannot be governed anymore,\u201d Bhat added.<\/p>\n
Jammu and Kashmir has been a disputed Himalayan region between India and Pakistan since the countries gained independence from British rule in 1947. Two wars have been fought between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Both nations govern the territory under its control. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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