Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir will hold local elections for the first time in a decade, the head of the electoral commission said Friday, after polls were stalled in the disputed region following New Delhi’s imposition of direct rule in 2019.
“After a long gap, elections are due and will be held in Jammu and Kashmir,” chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar told reporters in New Delhi, adding that voting will be staggered over three stages between September 18 and October 1.
The larger Kashmir region is divided between India, Pakistan and China. The part governed by India enjoyed a special status that was revoked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 and the state was split into two federally administered territories.
The decision to hold fresh elections follows a December order by India’s Supreme Court that rejected petitions challenging the revocation of Kashmir’s special status and set a deadline of September 30 for holding provincial polls.
Nearly 9 million people are registered to vote for the 90-member legislative assembly, the election panel said.
Elections in Kashmir have been targeted by militants in the past and also witnessed low voter turnout. However, the territory recorded its highest turnout of 58.46 per cent in 35 years in parliamentary elections held in April and May this year.