Millions of Indians across 96 constituencies began voting on Monday
\nNEW DELHI
\nIndia\u2019s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is not contesting elections in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir for the first time in nearly three decades, as voting in the latest round of the national polls got underway on Monday.
\nThe world\u2019s most populous country began voting on April 19 in a seven-phase election that is scheduled to take place over six weeks, with ballots set to be counted on June 4.
\nIndia has 968 million people eligible to vote in the general election, where incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP are aiming for a rare third consecutive term in power.
\nMonday\u2019s voting involved 96 constituencies in the fourth round of polling.
\nWhile the BJP, which has been in power since 2014, and its allies are contesting every other part of India as they look to secure a majority of the 543 parliamentary seats, the party is sitting out in the northern Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
\nThis year marks the region\u2019s first election since Modi\u2019s government stripped the valley of its special autonomous status and statehood \u2014 which was granted by the Indian Constitution \u2014 on Aug. 5, 2019. The move unilaterally revoked the relevant provisions under Article 370, scrapping Kashmir\u2019s flag, legislature, protections on land ownership and fundamental rights, sparking fears of demographic engineering in the region.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s really surprising that the BJP, which claimed to have over 800,000 cadres in the valley, failed to find a single candidate. It shows that the BJP is not popular in the valley,\u201d Sanjay Tickoo, the Srinagar-based leader of the Hindu minority group Kashmiri Pandit, told Arab News.
\n\u201cI am expecting a record turnout to show the central government what (they) have done to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This is the reflection of anger \u2026 no one is happy in the valley after the abrogation of Article 370.\u201d
\nIndian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir is part of the larger Kashmiri territory, which has been the subject of international dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. Both countries claim Kashmir in full and rule in part.
\nModi said his government had been focusing on jobs and development as part of an effort to end violence in the valley, which has for decades witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgencies to resist control from the government in New Delhi.
\nBut after the BJP lost Kashmir\u2019s three seats in the 2019 election, the party\u2019s popularity slid further after it revoked the region\u2019s autonomous status later the same year and subsequently imposed months of strict communication blockade and jailed hundreds of political leaders.
\n\u201cThe vote expresses not only anger but also apprehension against the anti-Muslim rants that have been going on as well as whatever they have done in Kashmir,\u201d Professor Sheikh Showkat, a Srinagar-based political analyst, told Arab News.
\nAltaf Thakur, BJP spokesperson in Kashmir, said the party was still taking part in the Kashmir polls by supporting other regional parties.
\n\u201cIt is not correct to say that we are not fighting the election, we are playing the role of kingmaker and whichever way the cadres of the BJP will go, we will win,\u201d he told Arab News.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not important whether we stand in the elections or not, the important thing is that we have to defeat the dynasty rulers,\u201d he said, referring to the main contenders in the Kashmir polls, the National Conference and People\u2019s Democratic Party.
\nWhile they are fighting each other in the valley, both parties have said they oppose the BJP and are part of the Congress party-led opposition alliance, known as India.
\nFor some Kashmiri voters, Monday\u2019s vote was about speaking up for themselves.
\n\u201cThe BJP knew that they cannot tolerate the wrath of the people of Kashmir. They fled the contest without a fight,\u201d Aijaz Ahmed, a businessman from Srinagar, told Arab News.
\n\u201cI voted today because it gave me an opportunity to express myself and tell the government in Delhi that you cannot keep us silenced. We want an atmosphere without fear and a region where our own identity is not questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Millions of Indians across 96 constituencies began voting on Monday NEW DELHI India\u2019s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is not contesting elections in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir for the first time in nearly three decades, as voting in the latest round of the national polls got underway on Monday. The world\u2019s most populous country began […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-406770","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n