Islamabad, Nov 15 (IANS): Voting was underway on Sunday for the hotly contested Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) legislative assembly election.

As many as 330 candidates, including four women, are vying for the 24 general seats in the third legislative assembly of region, reports Dawn news.

Polling stations opened at 8 a.m., and the voting process will continue till 5 p.m.

More than 15,000 security personnel from GB, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan have been have been deployed at polling stations.

Over half of the polling stations have already been categorised sensitive. Out of 1,141 polling stations, 577 have been declared sensitive and 297 highly sensitive.

According to anti-pandemic directives issued by the GB government, voters will be required to maintain a distance of six feet from each other.

Some 8,000 bags containing face covers, masks, gloves and sanitisers have been dispatched for staff at polling stations.

Sunday's polls, which could be one of the most important the region has ever witnessed, holds significance as the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the two main opposition parties -- PPP and PML-N -- held a vigorous campaign, Dawn news reported.

The elections, which were earlier scheduled to be held in August but were postponed due to the pandemic, PPP has fielded 23 candidates, while 21 PML-N candidates are in the fray.

The PTI has entered a seat adjustment arrangement with Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen on two constituencies.