Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], Oct 10 (NT): Polling began in 13 districts of Jammu and Kashmir as a part of the second phase of the urban local bodies elections on Wednesday. As per the Election Commission of India, a total of 1,198 candidates have fielded their nomination but following extraction and inspection, only 1,095 candidates are in the fight for the elections in the second phase.

It is noted that out of 1,095, as many as 65 candidates have won the elections uncontested, including 61 from the Kashmir Valley. The second phase will cover a total of 384 wards. Security has been heightened across the state so that the polls can be held in a calm way. Most of the candidates have been provided with either cluster security in hotels or alone in the Valley.  On a related note this is the first municipal elections where Kashmiri migrants are able to exercise their franchise after the ECI permitted them to cast their votes through postal ballots. The taken as a whole turnout for the first phase of local body elections which held peacefully on Monday was 56.7 percent. However, the voting percentage was terribly low in the Kashmir Valley with 8.3 per cent of the vote. On the other hand around 65 per cent of the electorate voted in the Jammu and Ladakh divisions of the state.