India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the main city in Himalayan Kashmir to campaign for his party in the staggered local election in the first such vote since New Delhi stripped the disput

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.

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 saw a 61.38% voter turnout in the first phase of assembly elections, according to the Election Commission of India. Male turnout was 63.75%, while female turnout was 58.96%, and third gender turnout reached 40%.

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.

PM Modi praised the historic voter turnout in J&K assembly polls, promising development and statehood, while criticizing dynastic politics in the region.

The vote will see a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly, with a chief minister at the top heading a council of ministers. But Kashmir will continue to be a “Union Territory” — a region directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s Parliament remaining its main legislator.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took on the 'dynastic politics' of Congress, National Conference and People's Democratic Party (PDP) as he held rally in Srinagar in support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates.