Udhampur: The election campaign in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur parliamentary constituency concluded on Wednesday evening, which is witnessing its first major electoral battle since the state’s autonomous status was scrapped and bifurcated to the status of a ‘Union Territory’ in 2019.
With 12 candidates in the electoral fray, the voting is scheduled from 7 am to 6 pm on April 19 in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections.
The contest for the Udhampur seat is primarily between BJP's Jitendra Singh and Congress Party's Choudhary Lal Singh. Both candidates have represented the constituency for two terms from 2014-2024 and 2004-2014, respectively, and are now seeking a third term in this election.
On the final day of campaigning, Jitendra Singh focused on Kathua district, while Ch. Lal Singh visited Chenab valley’s Doda and Kishtwar districts.
The constituency covers five districts—Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Udhampur, and Kathua—and comprises 18 assembly constituencies, including Udhampur West, Udhampur East, Chenani, and Ramnagar (SC) of Udhampur; Bani, Billawar, Basohli, Jasrota, Kathua (SC), and Hiranagar of Kathua; Inderwal, Kishtwar, and Padder–Nagseni of Kishtwar; Bhadarwah, Doda, and Doda West of Doda; and Ramban and Banihal of Ramban.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defense Minister Raj Nath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Information Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, BJP Muslim face Shahnawaz Hussain, and other central and state unit leaders campaigned for Singh in the past two weeks.
The Congress party also mobilized its star campaigners Sachin Pilot, Raj Babar, and Imran Partapgarhi for Udhampur, with full support from the National Conference. Former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah conducted road shows and held rallies in various areas of Udhampur and Chenab belt to garner votes for Chaudhary Lal Singh, the INDIA alliance candidate as per the pact between Congress and National Conference.
Former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad fielded Ghulam Mohammad Saroori on his DPAP mandate, campaigning extensively in Kathua, Udhampur, and all districts of Doda.
According to figures provided by the office of the Returning Officer Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency, there are 16,23,195 registered voters in Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, including 8,45,283 male, 7,77,899 female, and 13 transgender electors.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has set up 2637 polling stations across the constituency, of which 2,457 are situated in rural areas and 180 in urban areas.
(KNO)