Jammu, April 19 : More than 10% of the over 17.8 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in the Jammu constituency on Friday, according to Jammu and Kashmir poll officials.
The Jammu Lok Sabha seat is among the 89 constituencies across the country where polling is being held today.
Polling began at 7 am across 2,416 polling stations in the constituency, proceeding peacefully with no untoward incidents reported. By 9 am, 10.39% of votes had been polled.
Electors in Jammu are casting their votes to determine the fate of 22 candidates, including sitting MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, seeking a third term after winning for the BJP in 2014 and 2019.
This election is significant as the first major electoral battle after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.
The Akhnoor segment recorded the highest voter turnout of 14.24%, followed by Reasi with 14.13%, Gulabgarh (13.53%), Shri Mata Vaishnodevi (12.71%), Marh (12.31%), Samba (8.56%), R S Pura Jammu South (8.17%), and Suchetgarh (5.67%). The lowest turnout was noted in Ramgarh at 1.53%.
Voters, including 102-year-old Haji Karamdin, were seen heading to polling stations early in the morning. Karamdin expressed happiness at voting at his age, emphasizing the continuation of this tradition.
Over 15,000 polling staff, including reserves, have been deployed, with robust security arrangements in place for free and fair polling.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pandurang K Pole ensured that security and other arrangements are foolproof to guarantee peaceful voting.
This is the second Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir to go to polls after Udhampur, which recorded a turnout of over 68%.
A total of 17,80,835 voters, including 9,21,095 men, 8,59,712 women, and 28 third-gender voters, are enrolled in the Jammu Lok Sabha constituency, with 10,498 differently-abled voters and 666 voters above 100 years old.
A total of 2,416 polling stations, including 158 along the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC), have been set up across four districts.
Jammu recorded a voter turnout of 74% in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
This year, 22 candidates are in the fray, with a direct contest expected between Jugal Kishore Sharma and Raman Bhalla, the working president of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress.
Jagdish Raj of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and advocate Ankur Sharma of the Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal are other prominent candidates contesting the seat.
