SRINAGAR: Accompanied by his friends dressed in traditional attires, a groom decked up in sherwani and colourful headgear was among the first to cast his vote at a polling booth in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur as the first phase of the Lok Sabha election began Friday.
Polling started at 7 am amid inclement weather conditions in the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency spread over the five districts of Udhampur, Kathua, Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar.
Kapil Gupta got married Thursday and exercised his franchise at a polling booth set up on the premises of the Jammu and Kashmir Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribe and Backward Classes Development Corporation Limited in Udhampur town soon after returning home Friday morning.
KL News Network adds: More than 10 per cent of voters are reported to have exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling in the parliamentary constituency despite torrential rains. Polling began at 7 am in 2,637 polling stations and is going on peacefully.
The polling will decide the fate of 12 candidates, including BJP minister Jitendra Singh who is eyeing a third term after winning the seat for his party in 2014 and 2019. This is 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.
