NEW DELHI: India will hold provincial elections in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) from September 18, the country's Election Commission announced on Friday, the first regional polls in a decade and five years after New Delhi scrapped the region's special autonomy.
The Himalayan region is a disputed territory between Pakistan, India and China. The part occupied by India had a special status that was revoked by the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 and the state was divided into two federally administered territories.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 the IIOJK's special status and set a September 30 deadline for holding provincial elections.
Pakistan maintains the stance that the move to revoke Article 370 is illegal and a violation of international laws, UN resolutions and the Indian Constitution.
It aims to alter the demographic structure and political landscape of the IIOJK as it allowed people from some parts of India to have the right to acquire property in the disputed territory and settle there permanently.
Nearly nine million people are registered to vote in the 90-member legislative assembly, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told reporters.
Voting will take place in three phases, with votes counted on October 4, while results will be announced on the same day.
Modi says his 2019 decision brought “normalcy to the disputed region after decades of bloodshed” and that the special status allowed it a measure of administrative autonomy that “slowed down” the region's development.
Elections in the disputed territory have seen low voter turnout. However, the territory recorded its highest turnout in 35 years in the national parliamentary elections held in April and May this year, with a participation rate of 58.46%.
Kumar said the people of IIOJK “chose voting over bullets and boycott” in the national elections and the Election Commission wants to take advantage of that, adding that there would be enough security forces to ensure a peaceful vote.
