Bhubaneswar: Odisha recorded 48.95 per cent voter turnout till 3pm in the polling for five Lok Sabha constituencies and 35 Assembly segments Monday, officials said.
Voting started at 7am in Aska, Kandhamal, Bargarh, Bolangir and Sundargarh parliamentary constituencies along with 35 Assembly segments within the jurisdiction of these Lok Sabha seats.
Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are being held simultaneously in Odisha.
Police claimed that there was no report of any untoward incident in any polling booth.
However, Chief Electoral Officer NB Dhal said one presiding officer of a booth in Kantamal Assembly segment was taken to custody by police after some irregularities were found at the polling station.
Regarding the murder of a man near Sarsara under Sadar police limits in Bargarh district, the CEO said “It is not a poll violence, but a crime incident had taken place outside the polling station. The local police have managed the situation as the incident created some tension in the booth. The polling was not affected in this incident,” he said.
The deceased was an auto-rickshaw driver carrying some voters to the polling booth. While the family members claimed it was a political murder, police say personal enmity is the reason behind the crime.
Dhal said polling was peaceful in all the 9,162 booths. He said some EVMs were replaced due to their malfunctioning.
Officials said of the five LS seats, the highest 53.88 per cent polling was recorded in Bargarh parliamentary seat followed by Sundargarh (48.96), Kandhanmal (48.93%), Aska (46.23%) and Bolangir (46.96%).
From among the 35 Assembly constituencies, Bhatli recorded 50,68 per cent polling followed by tribal-dominated Bonai Assembly (58.30 per cent), while the lowest voter turnout was 41.17 at Patnagarh in Bolangir district.
Dhal said that industrial Assembly segments like Brajrajnagar and Jharsuguda also witnessed good voter turnout.
Till 3pm 48.95 cent of the over 79.69 lakh voters have exercised their franchise, officials said.
Officials said that a woman polling official fainted in a booth under the Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat.
PTI