Militants kill Kashmir BJP politician Gul Mohammad Mir as next India vote nears
- Leader of a local unit of the Hindu nationalist party was shot dead at his house in south Kashmir on Saturday night
Suspected separatist militants shot dead a local leader from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party in disputed Kashmir before the latest round of India’s marathon election, police said on Sunday.
The killing in Anantnag district of India’s only Muslim-majority state is the latest in a string of attacks that have marred India’s staggered election which began last month.
The militants opened fire on 65-year-old Gul Mohammad Mir, who led a local unit of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), at his house in south Kashmir on Saturday night.
Police said a polling station to be used in the district on Monday was also set ablaze in the nearby Shopian area.
Voter turnout in Indian Kashmir has barely crossed 10 per cent in the previous rounds of the election and Anantnag is expected to suffer on Monday – the fifth round of voting in the six week long election which ends on May 19. Results are to be released four days later.
Political killings are common in India’s bitterly-fought elections with party rivalries as well as regional politics boiling over.