NEW DELHI: India will hold provincial elections in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) from September 18, the country’s Election Commission said on Friday, the first ever regional polls in a decade and five years after New Delhi scrapped the region’s special autonomy.

The the Himalayan region is a disputed territory between Pakistan, India and China. The part occupied by India had a special status that was revoked by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 and the state was split into two federally-administered territories.

The decision to hold fresh elections follows a December order by India’s Supreme Court that rejected petitions challenging the revocation of the IIOJK’s special status and set a deadline of September 30 for holding provincial polls.

Pakistan maintains the stance that the move to revoke Article 370 is illegal and a violation of international laws, UN resolutions and the Indian constitution.

It is aimed at altering the demographic structure and political landscape of the IIOJK, as it allowed people from parts of India to have the right to acquire property in the disputed territory and settle there permanently. 

Nearly nine million people are registered to vote for the 90-member legislative assembly, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told reporters.

The vote will be held in three phases and ballots counted on October 4, with results expected the same day.

Modi says his 2019 decision brought “normalcy to the disputed region after decades of bloodshed” and that the special status allowed it a measure of administrative autonomy that “held back” the region’s development.

Elections in the disputed territory have seen low voter turnout. However, the territory recorded its highest turnout in 35 years in national parliamentary elections held in April and May this year, with a 58.46% participation rate.

Kumar said the people of IIOJK “chose the ballot instead of bullet and boycott” in the national election and the Election Commission wants to build on that, adding there would be sufficient security forces to ensure a peaceful vote.