Jharsuguda: After reaching a crescendo, the high-voltage campaign by heavyweights all three major political parties for Jharsuguda Assembly bypoll in Odisha is coming to a close on Monday.
While senior leaders of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) as well as opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress made whistle-stop tours of the constituency, their candidates also made last ditch efforts to woo the voters for May 10 by-election.
While the intense and noisy campaigning is set to end this evening, the local administration asked outsiders to leave the constituency for smooth conduct of the voting.
Raising the electioneering pitch, Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik had hit the campaign trail in Jharsuguda on Sunday to seek votes for party candidate Deepali Das, daughter of slain minister Naba Kishore Das whose murder necessitated the by-election.
Seeking to bolster the prospects of Deepali, Naveen appealed to the electorate to give the daughter of the soil an opportunity to serve them.
Giving punch to the BJP campaign, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also visited the constituency and held road shows on Sunday to seek votes for his party candidate Tankadhar Tripathy.
Similarly, senior Congress leaders including PCC president Sarat Pattanayak also cris-crossed the constituency and addressed public meetings to brighten the prospects of party candidate Tarun Pandey.
While the senior leaders of major political parties are leaving no stone unturned to utilise the time available to them, candidates – Deepali, Tankadhar and Tarun – were seen making their last-ditch efforts to woo the voters.
On the last day of the campaigning, they were seen undertaking door-to-door campaign. The star campaigners of the parties also tried their best to woo the voters in favour of their candidates.
As per the Election Commission’s notification, the voting for the bypoll is scheduled to be held from 7 am to 6 pm on May 10 while the counting of votes will be held on May 13.
Elaborate arrangements have been made for voters to exercise their franchise at 253 booths. Among the 2,21,070 voters, 1,10,320 are men, 1,10,687 are women and 63 belong to third gender.
Poll officials also reached Jharsuguda Engineering School for the by-election. The polling officials will proceed to their designated booths in the constituency ahead of voting.
It may be noted here that the by-election was necessitated following the murder of sitting MLA and Health Minister Naba Kishore Das on January 29.
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