Jitendra Singh Scores Hat-trick From Udhampur Lok Sabha Seat

BJP leader and Union minister Jitendra Singh has won the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat for the third time, defeating Congress candidate Choudhary Lal Singh.

After maintaining a narrow lead in the early rounds of counting, Jitendra Singh emerged victorious, equalling the feat of veteran Congress leader Karan Singh, who held the seat in 1971, 1977, and 1980.

Singh, who previously won the seat in 2014 and 2019, secured 571076 votes, defeating Choudhary Lal Singh by a margin of 1,24,373 votes, the Election Commission of India website, said.

Lal Singh received 4,46,703 votes. Former minister G M Saroori, running on the Democratic Azad Party (DPAP) ticket, came third with 39599 votes. Additionally, 12938 votes were cast under the NOTA category.

According to the officials, Saroori along with nine other candidates have forfeited their security deposit for failing to secure the minimum one-sixth of the total valid votes polled in the constituency.

Amid the bursting of crackers and showering of flowers, Singh was taken in a victory procession from the counting centre in Kathua town by joyous BJP workers. He straightway went to Mukerjee Chowk and paid homage to Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerji.

Singh expressed gratitude to the people of the Udhampur-Doda constituency for the victory.

"First of all, I want to thank the people of Udhampur-Doda constituency from the core of my heart. They have given their full support and again gave me this responsibility once again," he said.

"This seat will add to the tally to make a government led by Prime Minister Modi for the third time," he said.

In 2019, Singh defeated Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh by a margin of 353,272 votes. In 2014, he won aganst former Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad by 60,976 votes and was subsequently appointed Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.

Choudhary Lal Singh, who previously won the Udhampur seat on a Congress ticket in 2004 and 2009, posed a formidable challenge. A former MLA and minister in the PDP-Congress and PDP-BJP governments, Lal Singh rejoined Congress in March 2024.

The Udhampur constituency has been alternating between the Congress and the BJP.

Congress won six consecutive times from 1967, while BJP's Chaman Lal Gupta secured three successive victories before Lal Singh's two-term win in 2004 and 2009.

Jitendra Singh's victories mark a significant achievement, underscoring the BJP's stronghold in the region, BJP's J&K unit president Ravinder Raina said.

"We won both the seats of Jammu and Udhampur with a large margin as people have reposed full faith in BJP and its candidates under the leadership of Modi ji," he said.