India is expected to register as many as 2.5 million new voters in the Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior official said late Wednesday, in a move local parties say is aimed at influencing the upcoming election.

The Muslim-majority region is claimed in its entirety, but parts are ruled by nuclear powers India and Pakistan, which have fought two wars over control of the region. India took full control of the semi-autonomous region in 2019 by abolishing Article 370 and allowing non-Kashmiris to vote and own land there.

On Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer Hirdesh Kumar told reporters that more than 2 million new voters are expected to enter the region ahead of local elections in November. New registrants could increase voter numbers by more than a third, adding to the region’s existing 7.6 million voters.

Kashmiris fear that the rule change will allow the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to change the region’s demographics and suppress a decade-old independence movement.

The BJP said its regional policies were for ordinary Kashmiris’ benefit.

Kashmir’s main political parties heavily criticised the move. Mehbooba Mufti, a former chief minister and chairman of the J&K People’s Democratic Party (PDP), said the aim was to influence the election’s outcome. Allowing non-locals to vote is intended to influence the outcome of the election. She tweeted that the real purpose is to continue to rule J&J with an iron fist to disempower the locals.

A second former chief minister from the rival Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, Omar Abdullah, was also critical of the decision.