Peaceful voting underway in Odisha's five LS seats, 35 Assembly constituencies

Bhubaneswar: The second phase of polling in Odisha was underway amid tight security, said officials.

Notably, the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being held simultaneously in the state in four phases from May 13 to June 1.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha Nikunj Bihari Dhal said that voting was underway at 9,162 polling booths in Bargarh, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal, Aska parliamentary constituencies and 35 Assembly segments under these constituencies.

As per the Election Commission of India, Odisha recorded 21.07 per cent voter turnout till 11 a.m.

As many as 79.70 lakh electors will exercise their franchise simultaneously for the five Lok Sabha seats and 35 Assembly segments.

CEO Dhal further stated that polling was going smoothly without any incidents of violence till now. Facilities have been provided for the voters at the booths, he said.

Dhal stated that as many as 70 ballot units, 85 control units and 167 VVPATs have been replaced at some booths out of the 9,162 polling booths of the state.

“The total number of polling stations in Odisha is 9,162 and now we have live webcasting at more than 5,400 polling stations,” Dhal added.

The CEO also said that the situation in the Aska parliamentary constituency, where a BJP worker was recently killed in a pre-poll violence, is very much under control now. Meanwhile, Dhal also said he had discussions with the Director General of Police, Arun Kumar Sarangi regarding intense political rivalry in the Ghasipura Assembly constituency in Keonjhar district.

The supporters of BJD heavyweight Badri Narayan Patra and former BJD MLA, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik came face to face during an election rally in Ghasipura on Monday. Patnaik is contesting the Ghasipura Assembly constituency as an independent candidate.

Meanwhile, as many as 33,000 police officials, including 102 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), and 66 platoons of the Special Armed Police Force of Odisha Police are deployed to ensure a smooth and peaceful voting in the second phase of polling in Odisha.

Odisha Police have made adequate security arrangements at 556 booths in the five Maoist-affected districts -- Kandhamal Boudh, Bolangir, Bargarh, and Rourkela. Around 20 per cent of locations have been declared as critical locations.

As many as 40 candidates, including six women in five Lok Sabha constituencies, and 265, including 41 women candidates in 35 Assembly segments, are trying their luck in the second phase of polling in Odisha on Monday.

The prominent leaders in the fray include Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who is contesting the Hinjili seat in the Aska Lok Sabha constituency and Kantabanji in the Bolangir parliamentary constituency. Former Hockey India captain Dilip Tirkey, former Union ministers Jual Oram and Dilip Ray, and noted educationist Achyut Samant are also in the poll fray.