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.

The first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019 saw phase one conclude peacefully with a voter turnout of 50.65% by 3 pm. Political leaders called for high voter participation, emphasizing future stability,

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.

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%.

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.