Bhubaneswar: Barring a few incidents of clashes, polling was peaceful in six Lok Sabha constituencies and 42 Assembly segments in Odisha with a voter turnout of over 70 per cent recorded at 11.30pm Saturday, an per EC’s Voter Turnout app.
A polling official and a voter died of suspected heatstroke in the state, he said.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) N B Dhal said, “Polling was peaceful in 10,882 booths, barring a few reports of EVM glitches, which were resolved.”
Key candidates in this phase include Odisha Assembly Speaker Pramila Mallik, Government Chief Whip Prashant Kumar Mudili, and state ministers – Sudam Marndi, Ashwini Patra, Pritiranjan Ghadai, Atanu S Nayak, Pratap Deb and T K Behera.
Four sitting MPs — Pratap Sarangi from Balasore, Manju Lata Mandal from Bhadrak, Sarmistha Sethi from Jajpur and Rajashree Mallick from Jagatsinghpur – are in the fray in their respective seats.
Heatstroke claims two
A polling official, identified as Manoranjan Sahoo, in Jajpur district complained of uneasiness and was taken to a local hospital where he was declared dead, another official said. Sahoo, an assistant teacher, was deputed as a booth-level officer in Oleichandanapur in the district. An elderly man fell sick while standing in a queue outside a polling booth in Iswarpur in Nilagiri Assembly segment in Balasore district, and he was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead, the official said. “The polling official and the voter died of suspected heatstroke,” officials said. .
Arindam’s booth rigging allegation
BJP’s Salipur candidate Arindam Ray alleged that elections were rigged by BJD workers in some of the booths in the area while two persons were injured in separate clashes outside a polling booth in Gop area in the Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seat and Salipur under the Kendrapara parliamentary constituency. Replying to a question on the political clashes and booth rigging, the CEO said, “No such incidents were reported in booths. The commission has received reports of disturbances outside polling stations and the police have intervened immediately.”
PTI