Jammu: Over 67 percent voter turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling in the Jammu constituency in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, officials said.
The voting began at 7 am in 2,416 polling stations in the constituency and is going on peacefully, the election officials said, and added that 67.22 percent of votes were polled till 5 pm. There are more than 17.80 lakh eligible voters in the constituency.
The electors are casting their votes to decide the fate of 22 candidates, including sitting MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, who is eyeing a third term after winning the seat for the BJP in 2014 and 2019. The INDIA bloc has fielded Jammu and Kashmir Congress working president Raman Bhalla.
The Lok Sabha polls are the first major electoral battle in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — on August 5, 2019.
The highest voter turnout of 74.65 percent was recorded in the Jammu Lok Sabha constituency’s Shri Mata Vaishnodevi assembly segment till 5 pm, the officials said.
The Akhnoor segment noted 74.03 percent followed by Marh 73 percent, Reasi 71.65 percent, Gulabgarh 71.47 percent, Nagrota 71.39 percent, and Chhamb 71.06 percent.
The lowest voter turnout till 5 pm was recorded in the Jammu West segment at 58.7 percent, the officials said.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh cast his vote in the Trikutanagar area of Jammu and said there was massive excitement among the people. ”This is the base of successful democracy and that is why it is called a festival… All the phases will turn out to be great for the BJP,” he told reporters here.
Sitting MP Sharma, who along with his family members voted at a polling booth set up at the Kishenpur government high school in Nagrota, said the people should come out of their homes and contribute to a strong democracy by exercising their right to vote.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina, who undertook visits to various polling booths in Samba and Jammu districts, thanked the people for coming out in large numbers to vote.
”People are coming out of their houses since morning and voting. Their enthusiasm is high. More voters should come out of their houses to exercise their right,” he said.
Congress leader Bhalla, who along with his family polled votes in Jammu, expressed happiness over the smooth polling going in the constituency. ”I am proud to say that this time hopefully we will get blessings of Mata Vaishno Devi. We will win the constituency. Reasi has been included in the Jammu constituency so that we can get the blessings of Mata,” said Bhalla.
In a polling station in Reasi district, 102-year-old Haji Karamdin exercised his right to franchise.”I am very happy to vote at this polling station at this age,” he said.
More than 15,000 polling staff have been deployed while security arrangements are foolproof to ensure free and fair polls, the officials said.
Of the 2,416 polling stations 158 are along the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC).
”Security and other related arrangements are in place to ensure free, fair, and peaceful voting. A contingency plan has also been worked out to ensure no disruption in polling along the borders,” Jammu and Kashmir”s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pandurang K Pole said.
Around 1,454 polling stations have CCTV cameras for live webcasting to control rooms and around 124 polling stations have two cameras for inside and outside surveillance, the officials said.
Around 2,000 vehicles of polling parties and sector officers are equipped with a GPS to locate the vehicle and monitor movement, including overspeeding, they said.
Besides, satellite phones, wireless sets, and special runners have been put in place in around 13 polling stations, which fall in communication shadow areas, they said.
Jammu is the second Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir to go to polls. Earlier, polling was held in the Udhampur seat on April 19, recording a voter turnout of more than 68 percent.
Jammu recorded a voter turnout of 74 percent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
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