On Friday, voting started in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur parliamentary constituency. Over 16.23 lakh electorates are eligible to exercise their franchise.
The polling began at 7 a.m. in all 2,637 polling stations across the constituency despite pouring rain. It will decide the fate of 12 candidates, including Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who is eyeing a third term after winning the seat for the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
This is the first major electoral battle since August 5, 2019, the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.
Other prominent candidates in the fray are Congress leader and two-time former Member of Parliament Choudhary Lal Singh, DPAP’s G M Saroori, and six independents.
Officials said early morning voters were seen heading for the polling stations before the start of the voting, braving inclement weather. They added that more than 11,000 polling staff, including reserve, have been deployed, and security arrangements are foolproof to ensure free and fair elections.
Udhampur covers an area of 16,707 square kilometres. It consists of 18 assembly segments spanning five districts: Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Udhampur, and Kathua.
The constituency, which was reshaped with three assembly constituencies of Reasi district carved out on the recommendations of the delimitation commission in 2022, recorded 70.2 per cent polling in Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, 1,472 out of 2,637 polling stations in the constituency with a diverse electorate comprising 16,23,195 eligible voters have been equipped with webcasting facilities.
Among them, 845,283 are men, 777,899 are women, and 13 are third-gender voters.
Of the 2,637 polling stations, 2,457 are in rural areas and 180 in urban areas. The highest 701 polling stations are in Kathua, 654 in Udhampur, 529 in Doda, 405 in Kishtwar and 348 in Ramban.
Of note is the inclusion of 23,637 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) within the electoral roll, encompassing 14,362 males and 9,275 females, as well as 403 persons above 100 years of age who have been enrolled to participate in the electoral process.
The officials said there are 84,468 potential first-time voters aged 18-19, of which 45,825 are men, 38,641 are women, and two are third genders.
They said the constituency also has a sizable elderly population, with 12,020 men and 13,612 women aged 80 and above, totalling 25,632 seasoned voters contributing to the electoral discourse.
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