Polling for 4 LS, 28 Assembly Seats Conducted Peacefully in Odisha

 Bhubaneswar: The first phase of polling in Odisha for four parliamentary constituencies and 28 assembly seats passed peacefully, a few stray incidents of violence in Ganjam and Nabarangpur districts.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), 63.85 per cent of voters exercised their franchise rights by 6 pm. The figure is most likely to go up significantly after the final computation.

The ECI, meanwhile, found evidence of dereliction of duty by three presiding officers – two at Chhatrapur and one at Gopalpur assembly constituencies in Ganjam district — and suspended them.

According to Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Nikunja Dhal, arrest orders against two of the suspended presiding officers were issued for “serious dereliction” of duty.

The CEO did not elaborate the nature of “dereliction of duty” of the two presiding officers against whom arrest orders have been issued; sources said they were forcing the voters to cast their ballots for the candidates of a particular party.

In the first phase polls, the fate of candidates was sealed in electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The four Lok Sabha constituencies which went into the polls include Koraput, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi and Berhampur.

The prominent candidates who are in the LS fray include Koraput’s Congress Lok Sabha member Saptagiri Ulaka, Pradeep Majhi of Biju Janata Dal (Nabarangpur) and Malavika Devi of BJP (Kalahandi seat).

Fate of two senior Congress leaders — Bhakta Charan Das and Odisha

Reports from Western Odisha said voters in the Maoist-infested Nuapada districts came out to vote for their candidates of choice without fearing any backlash by the ultras.

Despite being a sensitive area in Maoist-infested Sunabeda sanctuary, the Katingpani booth coming under the Nuapada assembly constituency recorded 85 per cent voter turnout.

In many polling stations in Jeypore city in Koraput district, voters were provided special millet drinks and oral rehydration solutions (ORS) to beat the heat.

Reports from Gajapati district said, the villagers of Kendupada village under Mohana block in Gajapati district abstained from casting their votes to protest against the state government’s failure to put in place drinking water facilities for them and provide a mobile tower in their village.

“Due to a lack of mobile network facilities, the students are facing a lot of problems. Though we have taken up the issues with the district administration, no initiative has been made from their side to fulfill our demand,” said the villagers.

A total of 17,000 platoon police forces, 104 companies of Paramilitary Forces, 66 platoons of SAP and 600 mobile squads have been deployed in different polling booths to ensure smooth conduct of the polls.