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.