Indian-controlled Kashmir votes in final phase of polls to elect local government
Associated PressOCT 12 2024
As results are reported from India's recent state elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to win a 48-seat majority in the 90-seat Haryana state Assembly.According to official results reported on Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a 48-seat majority to form government in the Haryana state Assembly for a third straight time.
While the BJP is set to win its third straight election in Haryana, results from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) show that a coalition of the opposition Congress party and the regional Jammu Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) party won a 48-seat majority.India's main opposition Congress party, which last controlled the northern state from 2005 to 2014, said it would lodge a complaint with the election commission against the outcome in the coming days.
In Haryana, where a vote was held only on Oct. 5, Congress was seen as focusing too much on the agricultural Jat community, while the BJP held onto its historical hold over the urban areas and made alliances with the Dalit community.This comes as exit polls projected Congress to win 50 or more seats in the Haryana state assembly. Earlier this year, the ruling BJP lost half of the state's 10 seats in the national parliament.
While the loss in Haryana was a gut punch to Congress and its supporters, at least voters in Kashmir can celebrate the end of BJP rule. Narendra Modi lied when he said he wished to win the 'hearts' of Kashmiris, shown by his immediate stipping of their regional identity and autonomy. For the first time since New Delhi took over, the only Muslim-majority district in India can finally speak its mind without fear of punishment.
The BJP's victory in Haryana is far more important than anything Congress has achieved. While the opposition focused on minority groups, especially Muslims and Jats, the BJP campaigned across Haryana to motivate the state's majority of Hindus. Modi's party even outperformed Congress in rural areas, despite the Jats being the farmer class. Haryana is a Hindu state, and in the face of violence from other groups, it chose to fight back at the ballot box.