Kashmir's biggest political party opposed to India's stripping of the region's semi-autonomy won the most seats in a local election , official data showed Tuesday, in a vote seen as a referendum against the move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
National Conference, or NC, won 42 seats, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of the anti-India rebellion, according to the data. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party secured 29 seats, 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.
"People have supported us more than our expectations. Now our efforts will be to prove that we are worth these votes," Omar Abdullah, the NC leader and the region's former chief minister, told reporters in the main city of Srinagar.
His father and president of the party, Farooq Abdullah, said that the mandate was to run the region without "police raj rule" and try freeing people from jails. "Media will be free," he said. "People have given their mandate, they have proven that they don't accept the decision that was taken on August 5," he added referring to India's move in Aug. 2019.
