Kashmir's biggest party opposed to India's stripping of region's autonomy wins most seats in poll

[October 08, 2024]   SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Kashmir’s biggest pro-India political party on Tuesday won most seats in the recent election for a largely powerless local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir, official data showed, in a vote seen as a referendum against the 2019 move by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that stripped the disputed region of its special status.

National Conference, or NC, won 41 seats and was leading in one constituency, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of the anti-India rebellion, the data showed. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party secured 27 seats and was leading in two, all from the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu.

India’s main opposition Congress party, which fought the election in alliance with the NC, succeeded in six constituencies.

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