NEW DELHI, Oct 19: The occupied and troubled region of Jammu and Kashmir would vote for a new government in a seven-stage poll set to begin next month and conclude in late December, the Election Commission said on Sunday.

“The commission is under a constitutional mandate to hold (a) general election to constitute the new legislative assembly in the state” by January 10, the body said in a statement.

Polling would start on November 17 and all votes would be counted on December 28, the statement said.

Occupied Kashmir has been under ‘federal rule’ since July following the collapse of the ‘state government’ over a land row that triggered a revival of anti-India demonstrations in the region.

Pro-India groups welcomed the announcement but anti-India leaders said elections were not the answer to the problems Kashmiris faced.

“Elections can never be a solution to the issue of Kashmir,” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told AFP. “They can never be a substitute for our right to self-determination.

“Our fight for freedom will continue.” Talking to DawnNews, he said India was trying to project election as a substitute for the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination. Kashmiris had already shown a clear stance so far as the mandate was concerned.

“Our mandate is freedom and people are demanding the resolution of the Kashmir issue,” he remarked.

Chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Yasin Malik said: “Election is not acceptable to the common man. We will boycott the election and also launch a campaign against it.”

Elections had been scheduled for October but were delayed amid recent violence set off by the shrine controversy.

—Agencies