Jammu: Voting is underway amid rain in the Kathua-Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency spread across five districts in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections.
Taking off at a slow pace, the voting is expected to increase as the day progresses, said an official.
He said that 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.
The official, however, made it clear that voting will continue after 6 pm only in case there are voters waiting for their turn at the polling station premises.
A total of 16.23 lakh voters, including 8.45 lakh male and 7.77 lakh female electorates, are eligible to vote and participate in the electoral process in this constituency.
Moreover, around 23,637 persons with disabilities and 403 persons over 100 years of age are also enrolled to participate in the electoral process.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer, P K Pole, said that around 2,637 polling stations have been established for the first phase of the general elections being held across five districts: Kathua, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Doda, and Ramban.
In total, more than 11,000 polling staff, including reserves, are deployed on duty.
There are 19 polling booths manned by women (also called pink polling stations), 14 polling booths manned by specially abled persons, and 17 are being looked after by youths. Also, in order to spread the message about environmental concerns, 20 green polling stations have been established.
He also said that around 1,440 polling stations in Phase I have CCTV cameras for live webcasting to control rooms established at the district and CEO offices.
The public campaigning in areas of Kathua-Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency concluded on April 17 evening.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh is eyeing a third consecutive term in the constituency after winning the seat for the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, facing a major challenge from Congress candidate Choudhary Lal Singh, who had also won the seat twice in 2004 and 2009.
Democratic Progressive Azad Party’s (DPAP) candidate G M Saroori, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Amit Kumar, and six independents are also in the race from the Kathua-Udhampur constituency.
The weatherman has predicted generally cloudy skies with light to moderate rain (light snow over higher reaches) at most places, with thunder and lightning indicating temporary disruption of surface transportation in a few higher reaches.
Meanwhile, tight security arrangements with additional deployment of troops, including Jammu and Kashmir Police, are made across the constituency for incident-free voting and to facilitate the voters reaching the polling stations.
The elections to the five seats in Jammu and Kashmir will be held across five phases, almost five years after the abrogation of Article 370.
UNI
Rain punctuates 1st phase LS voting in Kathua-Udhampur is added by Agencies on View all posts by Agencies →
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