Voters queued outside polling stations in India's Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to vote in the first provincial election being held in a decade in the Himalayan region that has grappled with years of militant violence.

Eight constituencies in the Jammu region and 16 from the Kashmir Valley voted on the first phase of assembly elections. Two more rounds of voting remain.

India’s troubled region of Jammu and Kashmir saw a brisk turnout amid tight security as voters cast their ballots on Wednesday in the first regional legislative elections in a decade. The region, which has seen years of separatist violence and is at the centre of a dispute between India and Pakistan,

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a record 59% voter turnout in the first phase of assembly elections, the highest in seven elections. Despite minor scuffles, the elections concluded peacefully. Factors contributing to the high turnout include improved security and active political campaigns.

As the first phase of voting in Jammu and Kashmir begins on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged voters to come out in huge numbers to strengthen the festival of democracy.

In the upcoming years, the tourism sector is going to further expand in the valley, which will create a ripple effect for the overall economy of the state, he said.

SRINAGAR: The first phase of the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir recorded a voter turnout of 58.85 per cent as of 7:30 PM on September 18, 2024, the highest in 35 years. This notable surge in voter participation was marked by peaceful polling across 24 assembly constituencies (ACs) spanning seven districts,

From Omar Abdullah and Ravinder Raina to Altaf Bukhari and Tariq Hamid Karra, here's a look at the key candidates in the second phase of the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

The voter turnout in the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections failed to match the voter turnout in the 2014 election when it was still a state and not a Union Territory.