Lok Sabha elections: Udhampur to vote first time in April 19 after abrogation of Article 370

The Udhampur constituency will go to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19 the first general elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 Jammu and Kashmir will send five MPs to the Lok Sabha the elections for which will be held in five phasesThe state of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganized into a union territory in October 2019 The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019 was passed in 2019 and Article 370 of the Constitution of India which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir was abrogatedThe central government had in August 2019 abrogated Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two Union Territories UTs Jammu and Kashmir and LadakhThe BJP has fielded Union Minister Jitendra Singh from Udhampur who has been representing the constituency since 2014 Singh had defeated former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad from Udhampur in 2014The Congress has fielded Choudhary Lal Singh from Udhampur Lal Singh returned to the party six years after he was forced to resign following his participation in a rally held in support of the Kathua rape accused in which a child was raped The Peoples Democratic Party partner in the INDIA bloc has extended their support to Lal SinghNotably Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a huge statement during his recent visit to Udhampur said that the day is not far when Jammu and Kashmir will get back its statehood and assembly elections will be held there The time is not far when assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir also Jammu and Kashmir will get back its state status You will be able to share your dreams with your MLAs and your ministers PM Modi said while addressing a public rally in UdhampurThe Prime Minister said that in the last decade Jammu and Kashmir have completely changed as roads electricity water travel and migration all have become available here He pointed out that now after decades elections were taking place in Jammu and Kashmir without fear of terrorism and crossborder firingEarlier elections for the District Development Councils DDCs were held in JammuKashmir in 2020 BJP emerged as the singlelargest party with 74 seats While the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration PAGD led by Farooq Abdullahs National Conference won 110 seatsIn another notable point this election will take place following the two important bills the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Amendment Bill 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Amendment Bill 2023While the former legislation makes changes in the constituencies of the UT the latter provides for reservation in jobs and professional institutions to members of SC ST and other socially and educationally backward classesThe first bill has redrawn the boundaries of Anantnag and Jammu seats The Pir Panjal region which comprises Poonch and Rajouri was previously a part of the Jammu seat but has now been added to the Anantnag seat in Kashmir Similarly another region in Srinagar constituency has been transferred to the Baramulla constituencyEarlier there were six seats for JK including Ladakh But following the abrogation of Article 370 by the Parliament Ladakh does not have a Lok Sabha constituency In the 2019 elections BJP won three seats while the National Conference won the other three seatsThis is also the first election after the Supreme Court ruling last year which upheld the Parliaments decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two union territories The apex court also asked the Election Commission of India to hold the next assembly elections in JampK before September 30 2024At a time when the Central government is working to promote the Naya Kashmir citing the range of infrastructural development and welfare schemes and the reduction in terrorism the JampK will undergo the first general elections commencing from UdhampurThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever