Coming out in glowing praise of the BJP’s booth in-charges for braving heavy rainfall and unforgiving terrain to reach their designated polling stations in the Doda district, the Union Minister and the party’s Udhampur candidate, Jitendra Singh, on Sunday said he did not have enough words to laud their commitment.
The booth workers battled the elements to arrive at the booths in the far-flung hilly areas and help voters exercise their democratic right.
Taking to his official handle on X, the Union Minister posted, “Words are not sufficient to appreciate and applaud the commitment of the BJP Booth Incharges who struggled against heavy rain in far-flung hilly areas of district Doda on April 19 to reach the booth of their duty and ensure smooth voting in support of the BJP.”
An estimated 68 per cent of the total 1.623 million registered voters exercised their franchise in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Udhampur, according to officials.
Singh is up against the Congress’ Choudhary Lal Singh in the battle for Udhampur this year.
In the 2019 elections, the Udhampur constituency recorded a total polling percentage of 70.22 per cent. The Union Minister, who won the seat in the 2014 and 2019 general elections, is bidding for a third, straight term from the constituency this time.
The ongoing Lok Sabha polls mark the return of the festival of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 from the erstwhile state. With the official notification of the revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, the erstwhile state was split into two Union Territories–Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The first phase of voting for 102 parliamentary constituencies spread over 21 states and Union Territories was held on Friday, with an overly voter turnout of nearly 64 per cent.
“First phase, great response! Thank you to all those who have voted today. Getting EXCELLENT feedback from today’s voting. It’s clear that people across India are voting for NDA in record numbers,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted from official X handle after the close of polling in the opening phase on April 19.
Further, in an official release, the Election Commission (EC) informed that the first phase of polling was “largely peaceful across 21 States and Union Territories”.
However, sporadic incidents of violence and EVM malfunctioning were reported in some areas of West Bengal and Manipur. (ANI)
