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 is set to vote in the second and third phases of their Assembly polls on September 25 and October 5 respectively. The results are to be declared on October 8. J&K recorded a 61 per cent voter turnout across 24 constituencies in seven districts in phase one of the assembly polls which concluded peacefully.

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.

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%.

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.

PM Modi praised the historic voter turnout in J&K assembly polls, promising development and statehood, while criticizing dynastic politics in the region.