Voters wait at a polling station in Jammu's Anantnag district. (Press Trust of India photo)
For a border village in Jammu on a Sunday morning, it was an unusual sight: Long queues of voters outside polling booths.
Nanga village, barely a kilometre from the international border, had to bear the brunt of frequent ceasefire violations by Pakistan Rangers this year. The shelling has left gaping holes in the walls of most homes.
But the village, a part of Vijaypur constituency, appeared determined to vote.
Satpal Heer, 45, came out smiling after casting his vote at the Nanga polling station. "I have voted for somebody I believe will bring peace to our village and bring development to this much-troubled village."
Harnam Kaur, 23, was casting her vote for the first time. Two years ago, she had married the resident of an adjacent village. But she opted to come and vote at her parents' home at Nanga village.
"I have voted for peace on the borders and peace in other places. I trust the party I have voted for would work to realise my dream of a happy married life and peace in my parents' village. We should not have to live in fear of shells from across the border," she said.
Karliana Kalan is another border village in the Vijaypur constituency. Here too, voters had queued up long before polling began.
While almost every voter who spoke to reporters said they were voting for change, it was obvious the large number of voters turning up at the booths actually wanted a change in their lives.
In neighbouring Samba, a reserved constituency, queues were seen at almost all polling stations.
Eighteen constituencies - 16 in Kashmir Valley and two in Jammu -- voted in the fourth of the five-phase assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir today.