The three-phase Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir started on Wednesday , after ten years, in eight Assembly segments in three districts of the Jammu region and 16 segments in four districts of the Kashmir Valley. This is the first Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
It is also the first time that Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing an Assembly election as a Union Territory. When Article 370 was abrogated, the state was divided into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The photographs below capture the mood: