To ensure democratic participation of all eligible voters, postal voting was successfully conducted on Saturday in a constituency of Jammu Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to the second phase of polling on April 26, an official spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that as many as 48 employees from different departments opted for postal votes and they availed the facility in Kalakot-Sudarbani constituency.

The vote-by-mail initiative provides employees involved in election work with an easy way to vote. The spokesperson said it has become a beacon of accessibility, allowing employees to carry out their civic duties without the constraints of physically attending a polling place.

District Election Officer Rajouri, Om Prakash Bhagat and Deputy Inspector General, Rajouri-Poonch Range, Tejinder Singh Tejinder Singh and Senior Inspector General of Police Amrit Pal Singh also visited the Kalakot-Sunderbani Assembly constituency.

They reviewed preparations for the upcoming elections in the part, including household voting scheduled for Sunday.

The spokesman said they had also assessed security measures and logistical arrangements and directed all relevant stakeholders to ensure a smooth and transparent electoral process.

Later, the district election officer along with police and Karakot deputy commissioner Mohd Tanveer visited the dispatch center at Karakot Boys High School, the spokesperson said.

The Jammu Lok Sabha seat was re-planned in 2022 based on the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission and has a total of 18 parts, spread over three districts of Jammu, Samba and Resi, except one part in Rajouri.

Besides Kalakot-Sunderbani, Bishnah (SC), Suchetgarh (SC), RS Pura-Jammu South, Bahu, Jammu East, Nagrota, Jammu West, Jammu North, Marh (SC), Akhnoor (SC) and The 11 sections of Chamb belong to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi of Jammu district, Ramgarh (SC), Samba and Vijpur of Samba district and Gulabgarh (ST), Raisi and Raisi.

Among the 23 candidates contesting in the constituency, there is a head-to-head contest between sitting BJP MP Jugal Kishore and Congress MP Raman Bhalla.

Kishore is looking for a hat-trick after successfully retaining his seat in the 2014 and 2019 polls.

The most prominent among them include Jagdish Raj from the Bahujan Samaj Party and Ankur Sharma from the Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)