Bhubaneswar: Odisha recorded 21.30 per cent voter turnout till 11am in six Lok Sabha constituencies and 42 Assembly segments Saturday, officials said.
Voting started at 7am in Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri parliamentary constituencies along with 42 Assembly segments within the jurisdiction of these Lok Sabha seats.
Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer NB Dhal said voting has been peaceful so far in the 10,581 polling stations, barring some reports of EVM glitches.
Till 11 am, 21.30 per cent of the over 94.48 lakh electorate exercised their franchise, officials said, adding that the highest 22.41 per cent voting was recorded in Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat followed by Sambalpur (21.89 pc), Puri (21.51 pc), Keonjhar (20.89 pc), Bhubaneswar (20.72 pc) and Cuttack (20.47 pc).
Dhal said so far they have replaced 116 ballot units, 125 control units and 256 VVPATs as the EVM showed glitches during the mock polls held before actual voting started.
Official sources said an elderly woman voter who fell ill at a polling booth in Bhapur area of Nayagarh Assembly segment died at a hospital, while a polling agent died at a booth under Hindol Assembly segment of Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat.
As many as 35,000 security personnel including 121 companies of central forces have been deployed in different booths.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik walked to the Aerodrome Upper Primary School near his residence in Bhubaneswar to cast his vote. “We will form a stable government in the state,” he told reporters.
Senior BJD leader Kartik Pandian also cast his vote by going to the polling booth in an auto-rickshaw.
Chief secretary PK Jena and many other senior leaders including BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda also cast their votes in different booths of Bhubaneswar.
PTI