LS polls: Over 65 per cent voter turnout in Udhampur

Srinagar, Apr 19: Amid incessant rains, more than 65 per cent of voters on Friday cast their vote in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election in Udhampur parliamentary constituency, officials said.
Reports said that long queues started forming outside polling stations in the constituency as the weather conditions improved in most places around noon. The constituency which encompasses an expansive area of 16,707 square kilometres recorded 65.08% voter turnout, as per Election Commission’s data.
According to officials, around 2,637 polling stations were set up across five districts of Kathua, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban. Out of these, 136 polling stations were P-2 while 31 polling stations belong to P-7 to P-3 category. Among the districts, Kathua had 25 polling stations along the international border. In total, more than 11000 polling staff including reserves were deployed on duty.
The constituency had recorded 70.2% polling in the 2019 general election.
Udhampur-Doda parliamentary constituency had 16,23,195 voters, comprising 8,45,283 men, 7,77,899 women and 13 from the third gender.
“The total electorates included around 23637 persons with disability besides 403 persons above 100 years of age who have been enrolled to participate in the electoral process”.
In both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP secured the Udhampur seat with Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh emerging triumphant. The Saffron party, however, faces stiff competition from the Congress, which nominated two-time MP Lal Singh.
There were in total twelve candidates in fray and besides Dr Jitendra and Lal Singh, the candidates whose fate was sealed by voters include Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) candidate G M Saroori, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Amit Kumar; Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP)-Bhim candidate Balwan Singh; Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal candidate Manoj Kumar; independent candidates Dr Pankaj Sharma, Rajesh Manchanda, Sachin Gupta, Swaran Veer Singh Jaral, Mohammad Ali Gujjar and Mehraj Din. (GNS)