Bhubaneswar: The high-decibel campaign for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha came to an end Thursday after two months of intense electioneering.
The fourth and final phase of the twin elections in six Lok Sabha constituencies and 42 Assembly segments will be held June 1.
The six parliamentary seats are Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur.
The voting has been done for 15 Lok Sabha and 105 assembly seats in the earlier three rounds.
Top brass of the major parties like the ruling BJD, BJP and Congress canvassed for their candidates in the elections that began May 13.
The BJP campaign was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who addressed a total of 10 rallies in the state.
Besides him, union ministers such as Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Dharmendra Pradhan, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states like Himanta Biswa Sarma and Vishnu Dev Sai, and BJP party president J P Nadda canvassed in Odisha.
On the last leg of campaigning in Baripada, Balasore and Kendrapara on May 29, Modi raised the issue relating to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s health and wondered whether there was a conspiracy behind the deterioration of the BJD president’s health condition.
He also announced that if BJP is elected to form government in the state, a special committee will be set up to inquire into if there is any conspiracy.
In a rebuttal, Patnaik said Modi’s statements were unfortunate as the prime minister could have just telephoned him to enquire about his health.
Modi and other top BJP leaders also raised the Odia “Asmita” (pride) issue attacking Patnaik’s close aide VK Pandian accusing the bureaucrat of grabbing all power and controlling the chief minister.
Pandian, who hails from Tamil Nadu, termed them as anti-Odisha and “political tourists.”
The saffron camp also raised the issue relating to the missing of the keys of Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri and held the Odisha’s BJD government for the mismanagement in the temple.
BJP’s Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra’s comment that Lord Jagannath was a devotee of PM Modi also emerged as a major issue, with BJD and Congress condemning it. Patra later apologized and said it was a ‘slip of the tongue’.
The ruling BJD’s campaign was mostly centred around two persons – Naveen Patnaik and VK Pandian. Both the leaders held several rallies and road shows.
Patnaik, in his usual style, delivered a short speech in his last election meeting at Chandbali under the Bhadrak Lok Sabha seat on Thursday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi also addressed several rallies in the state. On the last day of the campaigning, Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in Balasore district and attacked both the BJD and the BJP for their “partnership”.
Meanwhile, Odisha CEO NB Dhal on Thursday said around one crore people will exercise their franchise in 6 Lok Sabha seats and 42 assembly segments on June 1 amid deployment of 125 companies of central force.
The poll panel has set up 10,882 polling booths across the six parliamentary seats.
The EC has, so far, seized cash, liquor, drugs and valuable materials worth Rs 275 crore in Odisha, while the amount of total seizures made in 2019 was Rs 44.07 crore and Rs 20.08 crore in the 2014 elections.
PTI