Militants struck after a lull of over three months gunning down a prominent political activist in Srinagar on Thursday afternoon.
Police said Ghulam Mohammad Mir, the zonal president of People's Democratic Party (PDP) was shot at from a close range in his ancestral north Kashmir Dangiwachi town in Baramulla district his afternoon.
"Mir received a fatal bullet injury in his head and succumbed," a senior police officer said.
The market area was cordoned off by police for searches to trace assailants.
Polls are scheduled next month for the 87-member state legislative assembly, but the Election Commission is yet to announce the poll schedule triggering speculation that it might be delayed.
Kashmir has been witnessing massive public protests and anger during the past three months during which 50 persons have been killed and over a thousand injured in clashes between protestors and security forces.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for Mir's murder.