The first phase of voting for the historic Jammu and Kashmir election begins today.
According to the Election Commission, 24 assembly constituencies spread across seven districts will have over 23 lakh voters determining the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 independents.
The election, first in a decade and after abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, is being conducted in three-phases.
There has been no elected government in Jammu and Kashmir since June 2018, when BJP came out of its alliance with PDP, forcing Mehbooba Mufti to resign as chief minister.
Multi-tier security arrangements have been made by the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF), Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police, and Jammu and Kashmir Police to ensure free and fair election.
The EC has deployed 14,000 polling staff to oversee the process at 3,276 polling stations today.