Bhubaneswar: The third phase elections for the six Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly constituencies in Odisha commenced Tuesday. Voting began at 7.00am and it will continue till 6.00pm. In the Maoists affected areas, polling will end at 4pm, said an election officer.
A total of 92,56,322 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for the Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Keonjhar and Dhenkanal seats and 42 Assembly constituencies under them.
LIVE UPDATES
Here we bring you the latest updates from all the constituencies going to polls Tuesday in the state.
Bhubaneswar: Chief Electoral Officer says the state records 55.47 per cent voter turnout till 4.30pm in the third phase polls.
Dhenkanal: A polling official deployed in booth 41 at Rehabilitation UP school under Kantapal village in this district was declared dead after he collapsed while on duty. This booth comes under Parjanga Assembly constituency and Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat.
Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held two rallies in different parts of Odisha. Addressing a gathering at Kendrapara, he asserted that the exit of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is ‘certain’ while shortly afterwards in Balasore he slammed the Congress for failing to demonstrate India’s defence capability in space, claiming that the previous governments were only concerned about the interest of a ‘namdar’ family and not with the country’s security.
Bhubaneswar: The state has recorded 42.97 per cent voter turnout till 3.00pm, according to office of CEO.
Parjang: It was a nightmarish experience for eighty five-year-old Sukumari Mallick, a resident of Parjang village under the same Assembly constituency in Dhenkanal district when she was not allowed to cast her vote after waiting for more than four hours under the scorching sun.
Sukumari had decked herself well after getting up early in morning knowing that this may be the last time she would be able to cast her vote. She had a bath, wore a fresh sari and reached the polling booth at around 7.00am in the morning. Little did she know then that it was all going to go in vain.
Khurda/Krushnaprasad: Tension flared up at Kahneipur of Banpur police limits under Chilika constituency in Khurda district after a clash erupted between two groups belonging to the BJP and BJD.
Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer Surendra Kumar also cast his vote during the day. He posed for the camera displaying his inked finger after exercising his rights in a booth at Unit IX in this city.
Bhubaneswar: A team of Biju Janata Dal ( BJD) representatives Tuesday approached the Chief Electoral officer demanding a week-long campaign ban against Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for allegedly violating ‘Model Code of Conduct’.
Bhubaneswar: Sources in the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) suggest there has been 18 per cent polling by 11am in the state.
Bhubaneswar: BJP Mahila Morcha leader and actor Anu Choudhury waits in queue to cast her vote at a polling booth in Bhubaneswar. Long queues were seen at most of the booths in the city from early in the morning.
Bhubaneswar: BJP candidate for Bhubaneswar-Ekamra Assembly seat Babu Singh waits to vote at Kapilaprasad Government Upper Primary School.
Angul: BJD MLA candidate for Angul Assembly constituency Rajani Kant Singh along with his wife Sanjukta and daughters exercise their votes at booth-85 in Angul.
Bhubaneswar: Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) informs that the state has recorded six per cent voter turnout till 9.00am. Bhubaneswar has recorded four per cent, Cuttack seven per cent, Puri seven per cent, Sambalpur witnesses eight per cent and Dhenkanal seven per cent.
Cuttack: BJD candidate for Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency Anubhav Mohanty casts his vote at Jholasahi booth in Cuttack.
Dhenkanal: Congress Lok Sabha candidate KP Singh Deo casts his vote along with his family at Jubilee Town UP School in Dhenkanal.
Cuttack: BJD candidate for Cuttack Lok Sabha constituency Bhartruhari Mahtab exercises his franchise at a polling booth in Cuttack.
Khandapada: BJD candidate Soumya Ranjan Patnaik casts his vote at a booth in Khandapada Assembly constituency.
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik casts vote in booth-112 in Aerodrome Colony UP School in Bhubaneswar.
Dhenkanal: Standing at two and half feet tall, 20-year-old Siddhant Sahoo became the shortest voter in the district after he exercised his franchise for the first time Tuesday.
Talcher: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan casts his vote at Deulabeda Telisahi Primary School booth in Talcher.
Puri: Congress candidate from Satyabadi Assembly constituency Prasad Harichandan casts his vote at a polling booth.
Angul: EVM machine found nonfunctional in polling booth-28 of Uttarpada School in Angul.
Dhenkanal: Four-time MP from Dhenkanal-Angul Lok Sabha constituency and OrissaPOST Editor Tathagata Satpathy, who is not contesting the polls this time, casts his vote along with OrissaPOST CEO Adyasha Satpathy at Kunjakanta booth-171 in Dhenkanal.
Khurda: Faulty and dysfunctional EVMs at several booths in Khurdah districts irked the voters, who had turned out in large numbers to cast their votes in the third phase of polling Tuesday in Odisha. Serpentine queues were noticed in a large number of booths where the polling process was interrupted due to the error-prone machine.
Bhubaneswar: BJP Lok Sabha candidate Aparajita Sarangi casts her vote at a booth in Bhubaneswar.
Angul: Angul BJP candidate Pratap Chandra Pradhan returns home after casting his vote.
Cuttack: Barabati-Cuttack MLA Debashish Samantray casts his vote at a polling booth in Jhanjirimangala area.
Dhenkanal: Voting could not be started in Kunjakanta booth-173 due to glitch in EVM machine in Dhenkanal district.
Angul: EVM machines were also found defunct in Nagira panchayat booth-05 under Pallahara assembly constituency. Similarly, glitches were found in EVM machines of Hemsurapada booth-29 under Angul Assembly constituency.
Dhenkanal: BJD MLA candidate Sudhir Kumar Samal exercised his vote at booth-186 set up in Meena Bazaar Urdu School under Ward-12 of Dhenkanal town.
Hindol: Hindol BJD MLA candidate Simarani Nayak casts her vote.
Dhenkanal: Volunteer Scout and Guide students assist a disabled elderly woman in a wheelchair to reach the nearest polling booth to cast her vote in George UP School under Dhenkanal constituency.
Dhenkanal: BJP MP candidate Rudra Narayana Pani casts his vote at booth-180 at Jubuli Town UP School in Dhenkanal.
Talcher: Voters who had come to cast their votes were forced to wait after EVM machines were found to be defunct at booth-179 of Talcher Assembly constituency.
Angul: Angul Congress MLA candidate Biplab Jena casts his vote at Booth-78.
Dhenkanal: Former MLA Prassana Kumar Patnaik on his way to cast his vote at Bhuban NAC ward-5 under Kamakhyanagar Assembly constituency in Dhenkanal district.
Bhadrak: Two villages in Bhadrak Assembly constituency, Jagganathpur and Chhakabentala of Bhadrak block, have decided to boycott voting citing poor condition of a road. They said repeated appeals to the administration had failed to evoke any response.