Udhampur( Jammu and Kashmir): As counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election 2024 enters the final leg, union minister Dr Jitendra Singh has won the high stakes Udhampur Lok Sabha seat of Jammu and Kashmir by over 1.24 lakh votes.
According to the latest real time data released by the ECI, Jitendra Singh had secured 571076 votes against Congress candidate Choudhary Lal Singh who secured 446703 votes. GM Saroori was a distant third by securing 39599 votes.
Reacting to his massive win, Siingh took to X saying "I express my heartfelt gratitude to the God-like people of Udhampur parliamentary constituency for showing faith in me for the third time in a row and for this victory. Udhampur parliamentary constituency, along with the entire country, is thanking its people for making Shri Narendra Modi ji the Prime Minister again".
"The party is playing its full role. All those workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party who worked hard day and night to make this election campaign a success also deserve congratulations," he added.
Udhampur (Incumbent: Dr Jitendra Singh - BJP - Minister of State in PMO)
2024 contest: Dr Jitendra Singh (BJP) vs Choudhary Lal Singh (Congress)
On April 19, during the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Jammu and Kashmir's high-profile Udhampur parliamentary constituency went to the polls. This marked the first Lok Sabha voting after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, with Udhampur recording a 68.27 percent voter turnout.
Spanning 16,707 square kilometres, the Udhampur constituency includes 18 assembly segments across five districts: Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Udhampur, and Kathua. The electoral battle featured 12 candidates, including Union Minister Jitendra Singh, seeking a third consecutive term. Other prominent contenders were Congress leader Choudhary Lal Singh, DPAP's G.M. Saroori, and six independents.
Chaudhary Lal Singh, the Congress candidate, is a two-time Lok Sabha member who represented Udhampur in 2004 and 2009. Jitendra Singh has held the seat since 2014.
The BJP's top leaders actively campaigned in Udhampur. In contrast, Congress's campaign was low profile, with only former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar canvassing for votes.
2024 polls: The total number of registered voters in this constituency in 2024 polls was 1623195, and the seat saw a voting turnout of 68.27% (1108206 total count of votes), according to the Election Commission’s data. The seat went to polls in phase 1 on April 19, 2024.
Previous elections: Dr. Jitendra Singh's winning margins in previous elections have been substantial. In 2014, he defeated Congress's Ghulam Nabi Azad, securing 46.78 percent of the votes to Azad's 40.93 percent. In 2019, he triumphed over Congress's Vikramaditya Singh, garnering 61.38 percent of the votes compared to Vikramaditya's 31.10 percent.
Demography: Udhampur's demographic is diverse, with a Hindu majority in Udhampur and Kathua districts, and predominantly Muslim populations in Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban districts. Despite this, Dr. Jitendra Singh has secured the majority of votes even in Muslim-dominated areas in previous elections.
