J-K polls: About 55 per cent voting in first phase

The first phase of polling for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections saw about 55 electorate casting their votes. Despite heavy snowfall and the separatists' call for boycott of polls, all the 10 Assembly constituencies going to polls in the first phase saw a good voter turnout. According to the Election Commission of India the highest turnout of 74 per cent was recorded in Gurez in the Kashmir Valley while Bandipora and Sonawari recorded the lowest turnout at 42 per cent each.