Jammu and Kashmir vote count begins

SRINAGAR/JAMMU - Counting of the votes polled in Jammu and Kashmir’s staggered assembly elections began Sunday, with most analysts predicting another hung 87-member legislature.

The counting process started in the state’s various district centres at 9 a.m., Election Commission officials said.

An estimated 63 percent of the electorate defied boycott calls from separatist groups to vote in the seven-phase elections that began Nov 17 and ended Dec 24.