Voting began Monday morning for a hotly contested northern parliamentary constituency in Indian-administered Kashmir, where a major election is underway for the first time since its political autonomy was scrapped by the Indian government in 2019.
Regional political parties have pitched this election as a sort of referendum on New Delhi's decision.
In the fray for today's polls for Baramulla constituency are former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, the party which has ruled the region for most of the time since 1947.He faces a tough challenge from Engineer Rashid, a former lawmaker of the regional and now dissolved assembly, who has been in jail since 2019.Rashid was one of the most vocal critics of Indian policies in Kashmir, especially the alleged human rights abuses during the uprisings of 2010 and 2016.
His son, campaigning for his father, had drawn big crowds in the region where elections used to be a muted affair due to boycott calls by pro-freedom parties.
Another challenger is Sajad Lone, son of noted assassinated pro-freedom leader Abdul Gani Lone, who will be banking on his father's loyal cadre of supporters.
In the first two phases of the multi-phase elections for India's parliament, voting was held for Jammu and Udhampur seats in Jammu province and the prestigious Srinagar constituency.
On May 25, elections will be held for the southern Anantnag-Rajouri seat.
