New Delhi

After many years, people in Srinagar and its extended neighbourhood that constitute the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency came out in hordes to vote in the elections on Monday.

The long queues of voters - both men and women - outside the polling booths reminded one of the era of the pre-militancy days. During the the decades of insurgency, voters were asked to boycott leading to very low percentages of polling, particularly in urban constituencies like Srinagar.

Despite it being cold and with an overcast sky, the enthusiasm of voters was too high to be missed. Nobody seemed to be hiding their face or shying away from the camera due to the fear of reprisals from terrorists: The pictures below sum up the mood of th festival of democracy in the major constituency of the Valley:

A Kashmiri Muslim woman shows her ink mark after voting in Pulwama

National Conference leaders Omar and Dr Farooq Abdullah showing finger marks after casting their vote in Srinagar

Voters queue up outside a green booth in Borihallan Payeen in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency

Village folks taking selfies with PDP candidate Waheedur Para on the polling Day

Father of a Pakistan-based Kashmiri terrorist (Owaise Firoze Mir) casting his vote In Srinagar Lok Sabha elections

Sanjay Sapru, a displaced Kashmiri Pandit, travelled from Gurugram (Haryana) to cast his vote in Srinagar

Voters waiting for their turn under the shade of Chinar in Srinagar Lok sabha constituency

Anxious to cast their votes, these Kashmiri women check their identity cards 

A wheelchair-bound Kashmiri woman voter smiles as she is being ushered towards polling booth 

Women voters queue up outside a polling booth in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency