Jammu: For the third time in a row, people of Jammu region reposed faith in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by giving thumping victory to its sitting MPs in both Jammu and Udhampur parliamentary constituencies.
While Jammu elected Jugal Kishore Sharma for the third consecutive term as Member Parliament (MP), Udhampur sided with the Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh.
As per the data available on Election Commission of India website, Jugal Kishore Sharma won the Jammu Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 1,35,498 votes as he got a total of 6,87,588 votes. His nearest rival and only strong competitor, Congress party’s Raman Bhalla got 5,52,090 votes.
In Udhampur, Dr. Jitendra Singh defeated his arch rival and Congress candidate Choudhary Lal Singh with a margin of 1,24,373 votes. The Union MoS in PMO got a total of 5,71,076 votes whereas Congress candidates got 4,46,703 votes.
Talking to the media, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, “This is a victory for the people to see Narender Modi as Prime Minister for the third term. People of Udhampur seat are lucky enough as they have become part of transformation and contributed to elect the Prime Minister. This constituency is very important and I pray to god to give me wisdom so that development works continue like it was taken up earlier.”
Udhampur Lok Sabha seat went for polls during the first phase on April 19 and polled 11,13,727 votes out of over 16.23 lakh votes. Jammu seat went for polls during the second phase on April 26 and 13,02,176 votes were polled out of over 17.80 lakh votes.
“We contested the elections in the first phase, for which I got just 20 days and all the equations were against us. Despite that people showered their blessings and I managed to get 4.46 lakh votes which shows the resentment of youth and poor against the present government. I am 100 percent sure the first-time voters and the educated class voted against the current regime,” Choudhary Lal Singh said as he accepted his defeat.
Out of the 18 assembly segments of Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency, Jitendra managed to get leads in 13 segments whereas Lal Singh managed to get leads in five segments and that too of Chenab valley. The Congress candidate couldn’t perform well in his own bastion of Kathua district whereas the Udhampur district stood behind BJP like in 2019 and 2014.
Both Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma have made a hat-trick of victories with their success today wresting two important seats for the BJP.
Post abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, this was the first general election being held in J&K and Jammu seems to be happy with what the BJP has done.
The victory of BJP on both the seats of Jammu region is certainly going to boost the confidence of the saffron party as in a few months from now the Election Commission of India is expected to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir in this election recorded its highest poll participation in the last 35 years. The Combined Voter Turnout at the polling stations for the entire Union Territory was 58.46 percent.
Meanwhile, in Ladakh Parliamentary constituency, Independent candidate Haji Haneefa Jan secured 65,259 votes while Congress party’s Tsering Namgyal bagged 37,397 votes while BJP’s Tashi Gyalson got 31,956 votes. Official figures suggested that Haji won with a margin of 27,862 votes.
Vote share in Jammu region, and Ladakh
Udhampur Lok Sabha seat
Dr Jitendra Singh (BJP): 5,71,076
Ch Lal Singh (INC): 4,46,703
GM Saroori (DPAP): 39,599
BJP’s winning margin: 1,24,373
Jammu Lok Sabha seat
Jugal Kishore (BJP): 6,87,588
Raman Bhalla (INC): 5,52,090
BJP’s winning margin: 1,35,498
Ladakh Lok Sabha seat
Haji Haneefa Jan: 65,259 votes
Tsering Namgyal (INC): 37,397 votes
Tashi Gyalson (BJP): 31,956 votes
Haji Haneefa’s winning margin 27,862 votes
