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.

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.

Jammu: Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Jammu on Friday night ahead of the hectic day-long campaigning on Saturday during which he will address five public rallies in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Shah arrived here from Delhi and drove straight to the State Guest house, a senior BJP leader said.

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 phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, held on September 18, witnessed a remarkable voter turnout of approximately 58.85%

Assembly Elections in Jammu and Kashmir are being held for the first time since the abrogation of section 370. Candidates have been been leaving no stones unturned in their campaigning to woo voters in their favour in order to bag victories in their respective constituencies.

The Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir began on September 18, as scheduled by the Election Commission of India (ECI). This is the first election since 2019, when the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir was altered by the abrogation of Article 370,