Odisha gears up 3rd phase polling tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: Over 94.48 lakh people are eligible to vote in the upcoming round of polling for six Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly segments in Odisha on May 25, a senior election official said on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference, Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) N B Dhal said the Election Commission will deploy 121 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for the third phase of polling, which is the sixth phase nationally, in the State.

Polling will take place in six Lok Sabha constituencies - Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Sambalpur -encompassing 42 Assembly seats within their jurisdictions. Dhal said out of the 94.48 lakh voters, which include 48.30 lakh men and 46.18 lakh women, approximately 21 per cent are youths aged 30 years or below.

Voting will take place in 10,551 polling stations, with about 2,000 designated as model polling stations. Over 2,000 polling stations have been identified as critical, with special security arrangements in place to ensure peaceful voting, Dhal added.

He mentioned that 1,500 polling stations will be managed entirely by women and another 30 by Persons with Disabilities. Over 70,000 polling staff will be deployed to conduct the elections.

There are 383 candidates, including 339 men and 44 women, for the 42 Assembly seats and 64 aspirants for six Lok Sabha seats going to the polls.