Srinagar, a city in the volatile region of Jammu and Kashmir, will vote on Monday in the fourth phase of India¡¯s ongoing national elections, amid rising concerns about low voter turnout and the campaign¡¯s increasingly acrimonious tenor.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi¡¯s Bharatiya Janata Party isn¡¯t contesting the Srinagar constituency or the two other seats from the Muslim-majority Kashmir region. It is contesting the two seats in Hindu-majority Jammu.
Modi¡¯s Hindu-nationalist government fulfilled a long-held campaign promise when it removed Jammu and Kashmir¡¯s special constitutional status in August 2019, months after it won its second term. The move was widely condemned, with the region¡¯s politicians jailed for months and communication blocked.
The region has been federally governed for almost five years with state legislative elections only expected after the national ones end, per the country¡¯s poll body.
The disputed region, which borders Pakistan and China, has seen decades of separatist violence and continues to be restive. One soldier was killed and four others injured when an Indian Air Force vehicle was attacked by militants last week.
India began its seven-stage election on April 19, with voting scheduled to end on June 1. The votes will be counted on June 4.
Balloting will also take place in nine other states to select 96 lawmakers in this latest phase. Voters in 25 constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 17 in Telangana ¡ª key southern states ¡ª will choose their representatives.
Modi, who has set an overall target of winning three out of four seats in parliament, needs to expand his party¡¯s presence in the country¡¯s south to realize that ambition.
In the eastern state of West Bengal, investment banker turned politician Mahua Moitra is attempting to regain her seat. Moitra, a member of the regional Trinamool Congress party, is a vocal critic of Modi and has questioned his ties with billionaire Gautam Adani. Moitra was expelled from parliament late last year amid allegations of ¡°unethical conduct.¡±
Attention has shifted to the dip in voter turnout after the first three rounds of voting, with the uncertainty spreading to financial markets. While there are no definite reasons, analysts and poll watchers ascribe the trend to several factors including an on-going heat wave, the lack of an overarching emotive issue and also the underreporting of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have artificially inflated voter rolls.
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