The vote will see a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly, with a chief minister at the top heading a council of ministers. But Kashmir will continue to be a “Union Territory” — a region directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s Parliament remaining its main legislator.

Lashing out at the three “dynastic families”, National Conference (NC), PDP and Congress for “destroying” Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first poll rally in Srinagar on Thursday, praised the people of Kashmir for now strengthening the Indian democracy.