New Delhi (PTI): 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.

"Your every vote for INDIA will ensure return of your rights, will bring employment, will make women strong, will bring you out of the 'era of injustice'...will make Jammu and Kashmir prosperous again," he said.

"Today, come out of your homes in the largest of numbers possible and exercise your democratic right - vote for INDIA," Gandhi added.

In a post in Hindi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "My brothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir, in the last 10 years, things have only been taken away from you. Statehood was taken away, the right to vote and elect a government was taken away, the identity and self-respect of Jammu and Kashmir was taken away." "Today is the time to change that. Your every vote will strengthen Jammu and Kashmir and your rights. Use your right to vote in maximum numbers and make INDIA win with a huge majority," she said.

This is the maiden assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir as a Union territory. It is also the first poll to elect an assembly in the last 10 years.

The Centre abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh -- on August 5, 2019.

In the first phase of the three-phase polls, seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir located on either side of the Pir Panjal mountain range are voting to choose their representatives.

More than 23 lakh voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents, who are running for 24 assembly segments -- eight in three districts of the Jammu region and 16 in four districts of the Kashmir valley.

The other two phases are scheduled to be held on September 25 and October 1, while the votes will be counted on October 8.