Lok Sabha elections 2024: Newly married couple casts vote in wedding attire in Jammu & Kashmir's Udhampur

The couple cast their vote in Udhampur decked up in wedding attire. (Image: screengrab from video shared by ANI/X)

A newly married couple turned up in their wedding attire to cast their vote in the Lok Sabha elections today a day after they tied the knot in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur.

Decked up in wedding attire, the couple spoke to news agency ANI after they arrived to cast their ballot. The couple got married yesterday and after the traditional bidaai (farewell) ritual today, the newlyweds arrived at the polling station to cast their votes.

Radhika Sharma, the bride, told news agency ANI, "Yesterday our wedding ceremony took place and today after farewell rituals, I told my husband that we must cast our votes...I will convey to everyone that they must not waste their votes..."

The video shared by ANI shows the groom, identified as Sahil, decked up in sherwani, turban and holding a decorative sword, waiting on for his wife as she speaks to reporters about the importance of casting every vote.

#WATCH | Udhampur, J&K: Bride Radhika Sharma says, "...Yesterday our wedding ceremony took place and today after farewell rituals, I told my husband that we must cast our votes...I will convey to everyone that they must not waste their votes..." #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/usMdJvALy0

— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2024

12 candidates are in the running, including Union minister Jitendra Singh, eyeing a third term after winning the seat for the BJP in 2014 and 2019.

The Udhampur Lok Sabha seat is one of six Parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the first election in Jammu and Kashmir after the ruling BJP government scrapped Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.