India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the main city in Himalayan Kashmir to campaign for his party in the staggered local election in a first such vote since New Delhi stripped the disputed region’s semi-autonomy in 2019.

It is the first such vote since India's government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.

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.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents are voting in elections that some hope will lead to restoration of the territory's statehood, which ended when it became a federally governed territory in 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday promised to restore statehood to Jammu & Kashmir. Speaking at an election campaign rally in Katra in the Reasi district, he also accused the Opposition of trying to bring back bloodshed in Kashmir by reversing the abrogation of Article 370.

A three-phased election for choosing a local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir opened early Wednesday in the first such vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.