Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday urged people in Jammu and Kashmir to vote for the INDIA bloc, saying every such vote will ensure the return of their rights and bring employment.

Voting was underway on Wednesday for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370. Twenty-four constituencies spread over seven districts of the Union territory are voting in the first phase.

“My brothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir, today the first phase of voting is being held. For the first time in the history of the country, a state’s statehood has been taken away and it has been made a union territory – this is a violation of all your constitutional rights, an insult to Jammu and Kashmir,” Gandhi said in a post in X.