J&K: Polling underway for first phase of Urban Local Body elections

ONI Bureau:   Voting underway at 422 of the 1,145 municipal wards in the first of the four phases of urban local bodies elections in Jammu & Kashmir on Monday.

Voting began at 7 am and will end at 4 pm. Long queues of voters especially first time voters is seen at the polling booths. The last elections to the municipal bodies in the state were held in 2005, and their five-year term ended in 2010.

Reportedly, the first phase of voting today began in districts of Jammu, Srinagar, Anantnag, Budgam, Bandipore, Baramulla, Kargil, Kupwara, Leh, Poonch and Rajouri.

Voter turnout recorded till 11 am in the first phase of local body elections in 11 districts – Anantnag-5%, Budgam-3% Bandipora-2%, Baramulla-3%, Jammu-34%, Kargil-33%, Kupwara-18%, Leh-26%, Poonch-47%, Rajouri-55% & Srinagar-3.50%.