SRINAGAR, India (AP) \u2014 Kashmir\u2019s biggest political\u00a0party opposed to India\u2019s stripping of the region\u2019s semi-autonomy\u00a0won the most seats in a local election, according to official data on Tuesday, following a vote seen as a referendum against the move by\u00a0Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s government\u00a0five years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
National Conference, or NC, won 42 seats, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of the anti-India rebellion, according to the data. Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party secured 29 seats, all from the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\u2019s main opposition\u00a0Congress party, which fought the election in alliance with the NC, succeeded in six constituencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople have supported us more than our expectations. Now our efforts will be to prove that we are worth these votes,\u201d\u00a0Omar Abdullah, the NC leader and the region\u2019s former chief minister\u00a0who won from two seats, told reporters in the main city of Srinagar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His father and president of the party, Farooq Abdullah, said that the mandate was to run the region without \u201cpolice raj (rule)\u201d and try freeing people from jails. \u201cMedia will be free,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Late Tuesday, Modi in an address to his party workers in New Delhi said the peaceful election in the region was \u201cthe victory of the Indian Constitution and democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe people of Jammu and Kashmir gave the mandate to the NC alliance, I congratulate them too. If we look at the vote share percentage, BJP has emerged as the biggest party\u201d in the region, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vote will allow Kashmir to have its own truncated government and a regional legislature, called an assembly, rather than being directly under New Delhi\u2019s rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, there will be a\u00a0limited transition of power from New Delhi to the assembly\u00a0as Kashmir will remain a \u201cunion territory\u201d \u2014 directly controlled by the federal government \u2014 with India\u2019s Parliament as its main legislator. Kashmir\u2019s statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states of India. But it will not have the special powers it enjoyed before the 2019 changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople have given their mandate,\u201d Farooq Abdullah said. \u201cThey have proven that they don\u2019t accept the decision that was taken on August 5,\u201d he added referring to India\u2019s move in Aug. 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of the NC workers gathered outside counting centers and at the homes of the winning candidates to celebrate the party\u2019s victory. Waving the party flags, they danced and burst firecrackers while chanting pro-Kashmir and pro-party slogans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the first such vote in a decade and the first since Modi\u2019s Hindu nationalist government\u00a0scrapped the Muslim-majority region\u2019s long-held semi-autonomy\u00a0in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The unprecedented move downgraded and divided the\u00a0former state into two centrally governed union territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir. Both are ruled directly by New Delhi through its appointed administrators along with unelected bureaucrats and security setup. The move \u2014 which largely\u00a0resonated in India and among Modi supporters\u00a0\u2014 was mostly opposed in Kashmir as an assault on its identity and autonomy amid fears that it would pave the way for\u00a0demographic changes in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\u00a0region has since been on edge\u00a0with civil liberties curbed and media gagged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over the territory since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities tallied votes as thousands of additional police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled roads and guarded 28 counting centers. Nearly\u00a08.9 million people were eligible to vote in the election, which began on Sept. 18 and concluded on Oct. 1. The overall\u00a0turnout was 64% across the three phases, according to official data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the region\u2019s legislature, five seats are appointed and 90 elected, so a party or coalition would need at least 48 of the 95 total seats to form a government. The alliance of the National Conference and the Congress have 48 seats combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities have said the election will bring democracy to the region after decades of strife, but many locals viewed the vote as an opportunity not only to elect their own representatives but also to register their protest against the 2019 changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Except for the BJP, most parties who contested the election campaigned on promises to reverse the 2019 changes and address key issues like rising unemployment and inflation. The Congress party favored restoring the region\u2019s statehood. The BJP has also stated that it will restore statehood, but has not told when it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BJP has vowed to block any move aimed at undoing most of the 2019 changes but promised to help in the region\u2019s economic development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Modi\u2019s BJP emerged victorious in the northern state of Haryana, bordering New Delhi, which it has ruled for 10 years, winning in 48 out of 90 constituencies, according to the Election Commission of India. The Congress party won 37 seats, the official data showed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The voting trend in Haryana state is a surprise since most exit polls had predicted an easy victory for the Congress party. Indian exit polls have had a mixed record in the past in predicting election results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mandate is a simple majority that gives the BJP a record third five-year term in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi in his address praised the people of Haryana for returning the BJP for a third time and said the state would witness faster development in the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHaryana will develop, Jammu and Kashmir will develop, India will develop and we will do it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kashmir\u2019s last assembly election was held in 2014, after which the BJP for the first time ruled in a coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party. But\u00a0the government collapsed in 2018\u00a0after the BJP withdrew from the coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi\u2019s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels\u2019 goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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