India Vote Resumes With Kashmir Poised To Oppose Modi

India's six-week election resumed Monday including in Kashmir, where voters appeared eager to express discontent with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cancellation of their disputed territory's semi-autonomy and the security crackdown that followed

Srinagar, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th May, 2024) India's six-week election resumed Monday including in Kashmir, where voters appeared eager to express discontent with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cancellation of their disputed territory's semi-autonomy and the security crackdown that followed.

Modi remains popular across much of India and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to win the poll when it concludes early next month.

But his government's decision in 2019 to bring Kashmir under its direct rule -- and the subsequent clampdown -- have been deeply resented among the region's residents, who voted Monday for the first time since the move.

"I voted for changing the current government. It must happen for our children to have a good future," civil servant Habibullah Parray told AFP.