Vote restores hope to Kashmir but Modi’s still in charge

This year’s local elections in India’s northernmost territory of Jammu and Kashmir were the first since the national government controversially stripped the region of its semi-autonomous status in 2019. They were also the first local elections in Muslim-majority Kashmir since 2014.

It was a significant moment for the region. The election will restore, at least partially, some degree of self-rule five years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took it away.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) was delivered a resounding defeat when the official results were released this week. The alliance between the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and the Indian National Congress won 48 seats in the 90-seat regional legislature. The BJP won 29, mostly in the Hindu-majority Jammu region.

The former chief minister, Omar Abdullah, was also reinstated as leader. This was a surprising turn given that he lost his race for a seat in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, in the national elections a few months ago.

What’s changed?

Elections in Jammu and Kashmir have been affected in the past by boycotts and low voter turnout, due largely to public mistrust of the government.

There was also a sense of betrayal after Modi’s government revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. This had granted special privileges to local residents and given the region its own constitution and ability to make its own laws.

However, voter turnout in this year’s election reached 64%. And the participation of separatists and independent candidates suggested a change in attitude toward the political process.

For the BJP, the elections are evidence that normality has returned to Kashmir after years of ongoing violence. Modi said in a tweet: “Many