India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the main city in Himalayan Kashmir to campaign for his party in the staggered local election in a first such vote since New Delhi stripped the disputed region’s semi-autonomy in 2019.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents are voting in elections that some hope will lead to restoration of the territory's statehood, which ended when it became a federally governed territory in 2019.

India’s troubled region of Jammu and Kashmir saw a brisk turnout amid tight security as voters cast their ballots on Wednesday in the first regional legislative elections in a decade. The region, which has seen years of separatist violence and is at the centre of a dispute between India and Pakistan,

A phased election for choosing a local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir has opened in the first such vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.

Three months after his worst election performance to date, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing another challenging vote: this time in the fragile region of Jammu and Kashmir, where separatist sentiment is strong and voters are angry with their loss of autonomy.

For decades, boycotting elections in Indian-controlled Kashmir was a sign of protest against Indian rule. That may change on Wednesday, when many residents of the Muslim-majority region say they’re willing to use their vote in a local election to deny Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party the power to form an administration in the disputed region.

India is organizing first regional elections in Jammu and Kashmir in a decade. For its residents, the chance to choose their own government seems to have brought a new air of optimism amid the never-ending violence.