Jammu, Apr 19 (Reporter) Around 22.60 percent of 16.23 lakh voters cast their votes in the initial four hours of polling till 11 am in the Kathua-Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency (PC) on Friday in a peaceful manner. As per the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, approximately 25.18 percent voting was reported in Bani, 15.66 percent in Banihal, 19.21 percent in Basohli, 26.34 percent in Bhaderwah, 28.51 percent in Bilawar, 16.31 percent in Chenani, 28.91 percent in Doda, -25.42 percent in Doda West, 26.45 percent in Hiranagar, 28.56 percent in Inderwal, 26.62 percent in Jasrota, 22.15 percent in Kathua (SC), 31.27 percent in Kishtwar, 25.21 percent in Padder-Nagseni, 23.03 percent in Ramban, 15.31 percent in Ramnagar (SC), 18.96 percent in Udhampur East and 14.05 percent in Udhampur West. Returning Officer, Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency, Dr Rakesh Minhas, was among the first voters lined up in queue to exercise his vote at the polling station. Long queues were witnessed at the constituency amid inclement weather conditions. Earlier in the morning, voting started amid rain in the Lok Sabha Constituency spread across five districts. However, a bridgegroom in traditional sherwani and a colourful headgear was among the first to cast his vote at a polling booth in Udhampur. Kapil Gupta, who got married on Thursday, exercised his franchise at a polling booth set up on the premises of the Jammu and Kashmir Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes Development Corporation Limited in Udhampur town soon after returning home on Friday morning. He said voting is their right and must be done on priority. 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. Prominent among in the fray include BJP MP and Union Minister and two-time MP, Dr Jitendra Singh, Congress leader and two-time former MP Choudhary Lal Singh and DPAP’s G M Saroori besides six independents. A total of 1,472 polling stations, out of 2,637, have been equipped with webcasting facilities in the constituency having a diverse electorate comprising 16,23,195 eligible voters,Chief Electoral Officer said...////...