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.

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%.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents are voting in elections that some hope will lead to restoration of the territory's statehood, which ended when it became a federally governed territory in 2019.

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,

India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi made his first trip to the capital of Himalayan Kashmir on Thursday to support his party in the local elections. This is the first time that the disputed area has been in a local election since New Delhi revoked the region's semi-autonomy in 2019.

With fresh faces emerging to challenge the traditional political powerhouses, the region’s political dynamics already appear to be changing.