Udhampur Lok Sabha seat registers 65.08% voting turnout

Srinagar: The Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency (PC) is witnessing a robust voter turnout, with an encouraging 65.08 percent voting rate recorded as of 5:00 PM. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Jammu & Kashmir, has confirmed this figure, highlighting the active participation in the electoral process within the Udhampur Doda constituency on Friday. Official data reveals various Assembly Constituencies (ACs) within the Udhampur Doda constituency reporting the following voter turnouts: Bani – 60.65%, Banihal – 56.62%, Basohli – 63.57%, Bhaderwah – 60.85%, Bilawar – 64.51%, Chenani – 66.33%, Doda – 65.78%, Doda West – 66.62%, Hiranagar – 68.06%, Inderwal – 66.90%, Jasrota – 68.65%, Kathua (SC) – 70.80%, Kishtwar – 62.51%, Padder-nagseni – 60.81%, Ramban – 64.76%, Ramnagar (SC) – 64.79%, Udhampur East – 69.96%, and Udhampur West – 67.33%.
The atmosphere remains largely peaceful, with voters from various walks of life participating enthusiastically, demonstrating a remarkable display of civic responsibility and pride. Most of the parts in Kathua-Udhampur parliamentary constituency are hilly belts, and due to rains, voters in the beginning are coming less in number to the booths, but the percentage will swell later in the day till 6 pm. Polling started at 7 am amid inclement weather conditions in the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency spread over the five districts of Udhampur, Kathua, Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar. This is the first major electoral battle after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.
Voting is scheduled to end at 6 pm and will decide the fate of 12 candidates, including Union minister Jitendra Singh who is seeking re-election for his third consecutive term.
Singh faces a major challenge from Congress candidate and two-time former MP Choudhary Lal Singh, while the presence of DPAP candidate G M Saroori makes the contest a triangular one.
Braving inclement weather, the early morning voters were seen heading for the polling stations before the start of the voting, officials said, adding more than 11,000 polling staff, including reserve, have been deployed while security arrangements are foolproof to ensure free and fair elections.
Udhampur encompasses an expansive area of 16,707 square kilometres. It consists of 18 assembly segments spanning across 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, had recorded 70.2 per cent polling in Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, a total of 1,472 polling stations, out of 2,637, were equipped with webcasting facilities in the constituency having a diverse electorate comprising 16,23,195 eligible voters.
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 notable mention is the inclusion of 23,637 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) within the electoral roll, encompassing 14,362 males and 9,275 females besides 403 persons above 100 years of age were enrolled to participate in the electoral process.
There are a total of 84,468 potential first-time voters, aged 18-19 years, of which 45,825 are men, 38,641 are women and two are third genders, the officials said.
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.
“People voted with fervor despite the pouring rain. The enthusiasm witnessed in the first phase is a precursor to the fervent participation expected in the upcoming assembly elections,” expressed Satosh Bandari, a voter from the Inderwal constituency of Kishtwar.
He appealed to the Election Commission to announce assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir following the completion of Lok Sabha elections.
“We cast our votes with a vision for development, security, and employment generation. These crucial issues will resonate once again during the assembly polls.”
Following the collapse of the PDP-BJP government in June 2018, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is currently under the administration led by the Lt Governor. The last assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir took place in 2014.
Sanjeev Kumar, hailing from Udhampur, expressed the optimism prevailing among the populace regarding the opportunity to elect their own government, as assured by the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah.
During an election rally in Jammu on April 16, Shah reiterated that assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir would adhere to the timeline set by the Supreme Court (September 30), emphasizing, “Nobody should doubt this.”
In phase 1 of the General Elections 2024, polling has concluded for 10 States/Union Territories to elect the 18th Lok Sabha, along with polling for the State Legislative Assemblies of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
The Election Commission extends gratitude to the voters of phase 1 and the entire election machinery for their dedication and participation in the democratic process.
Tentative figure of voter turnout across 21 States/UTs reported is over 60% at 7 PM. State wise figures are placed at Annexure A. The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 PM in many Constituencies. Also, voters reaching the Polling stations till the end of polling hour are allowed to cast their vote. Final figures will be known tomorrow after the scrutiny of form 17A.