After a decade, the people of Jammu and Kashmir's Chenab valley and south Kashmir began exercising their voting rights in the first phase of the assembly elections on Wednesday.
Chenab, which has 7.14 lakh voters across 1,328 polling stations, covers eight assembly constituencies in Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar. South Kashmir's four districts Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, and Shopian has 16 assembly seats. Around 16.13 lakh voters will cast their votes across 1,948 election booths.
Amid recent terrorist attacks in the state, the central and state security forces have beefed up security across Jammu and Kashmir. Six army personnel and four terrorists were killed in the past three months.
The first phase will also see more than 35,000 displaced Kashmiri Pandits voting across 24 polling stations in other parts of the state and the national capital. Delhi has four polling stations while Jammu has 19 and Udhampur has one. The community members are registered as voters in the 16 constituencies of south Kashmir.
The polling will conclude at 6 pm.