RAWALAKOT, Pakistan, July 25 (KUNA) -- Polling for the Pakistan administered Kashmir Legislative Assembly is underway on Sunday after a highly charged election campaign from the three mainstream parties of Pakistan.
The polling started at 8:00 am local-time and will continue until 5:00 pm without any break.
Over 700 candidates from 32 political and religious parties are contesting for the 45 general seats of the Legislative Assembly for a five-year term.
Around 3.2 million voters will vote for 33 general seats and 12 reserved seats for Kashmiri refugees who had migrated from the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and settled in various parts of Pakistan.
Security has been beefed up across the Kashmir region and over 40,000 security personnel, including Army, FC, Rangers and Police are performing duties to ensure a peaceful polling process.
The ruling political party in Pakistan, Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), has fielded 41 candidates for the polls followed by the opposition political party in Pakistan, PML-N's 36 candidates while Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has fielded only eight candidates.
A total of 32 political parties are contesting the elections and hundreds of independent candidates are also vying in all the 45 electoral constituencies. (end) sbk.gta