A turnout of 57% was recorded till noon on Wednesday in six districts of the Jammu region where urban local body elections are under way, PTI reported. Voting in the second phase is under way in 384 wards in 13 districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Brisk polling is going on and there was no report of any untoward incidents reported from anywhere,” officials told PTI.

Around 76.4% of the voters exercised their franchise till 2 pm in Ramban district, followed by 76.3% in Reasi, The Indian Express reported. In Kathua, 73.3% of the electorate voted, in Doda 67.5%, while this number was 68.3% and 65.7% in Kishtwar and Udhampur, respectively.

Voting for the first phase of Jammu and Kashmir’s urban local body election had concluded on Monday, with just 8.3% turnout in the Kashmir Valley, reported PTI. Most people in the region had stayed away from polling booths following threats from militant groups.

At least 30 urban bodies were to go to the polls in the second phase, but elections in seven of these were unnecessary because either candidates were elected unopposed or there were none, Greater Kashmir reported. Over 1,000 candidates are in the fray.

The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from ward No. 2 of Ramban died due to cardiac arrest early on Wednesday morning, reported the Hindustan Times. Polling was cancelled in the ward after Azad Singh’s death.

Bandipora Senior Superintendent of Police Zulfikar Azad said the security arrangements for the voting are robust. “Voting process is going on very well,” he said. “Voters are feeling safe. People are coming out in large numbers to cast their vote.”

Turnout was mixed in most wards early in the morning and remained low in militancy-hit areas. Only 1.8% of voters had exercised their franchise in Srinagar till 2 pm, reported The Indian Express. In Anantnag, this was just 1%, and in Baramulla, the turnout was 5.2%.

Opposition parties in the state criticised Governor Satya Pal Malik for purportedly naming the next mayor of Srinagar even before the polls are over. “As per my information, Srinagar is getting a new mayor who is a foreign-educated young person and if this leader emerges, both parties [the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party] are jittery,” Malik had told NDTV during an interview earlier this week. “The boy’s name is Mattoo, he is very well-educated.”

National Conference spokesperson Aga Rohullah claimed that the governor’s comments are proof that the “elections are managed”. The Congress said that the party had lost faith in the elections.

Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said both phases of the election were peaceful. “Security forces and police did their job properly,” ANI quoted him as saying. “Public’s cooperation was great. I think that the two phase of upcoming polls will be peaceful.”

The voting began at 6 am and will conclude at 4 pm. Earlier, state Chief Electoral Officer Shaleen Kabra had said that the polling would begin an hour early. This was because of the low turnout in the first phase of voting on Monday, The Indian Express reported.

Unidentified civil and security officials told Greater Kashmir that the conduct of polling in Anantnag and Srinagar was a challenge because of the “volatile history” of voting. Mobile internet services have been suspended in South Kashmir while speed has been reduced to 2G in other parts of the state, reported ANI.

The Joint Resistance Leadership, an alliance of major separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, has called for a boycott of the polls. The call was heeded in the Valley during the first phase, when just 8% voters turned out to cast their ballots.

Meanwhile, security forces have claimed that they will take up anti-militancy operations in the state only after specific input. “We will not put the anti-militancy operations on halt or slow them down for the sake of the polls, but we will not launch speculative operations and would go after militants only on the basis of specific intelligence inputs,” said an unidentified officer.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed the law and order situation in the state, reported PTI.

Meanwhile, Malik’s comments on naming the new mayor of Srinagar even before the elections are concluded drew fire from several quarters, reported NDTV. Malik had earlier told the news channel that the new mayor would be “a foreign-educated young person, a well-educated boy whose name is Mattoo”.

National Conference spokesperson Aga Rohullah said Malik’s comments were proof that the elections were not conducted in the true spirit of democracy. “The governor in an interview to your channel has already named a person as mayor of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation,” said Rohullah.

Senior Kashmir Congress leader GN Monga said that the party had lost faith in the elections. “He [Malik] has already announced the result, saying a foreign-educated candidate will be mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation,” said Monga. “Now there will be no election because he has already decided about it.