Missing, Voters At These Odisha Villages

Bhubaneswar: The first-phase election in four Lok Sabha and 28 Assembly seats of Odisha concluded peacefully with 68 per cent voter turnout on Thursday.

However, several places in Odisha saw zero voting.

According to sources, people of eight villages under Mathili block in Malkangiri district boycotted polls over allegedly being denied basic amenities.

They were also not happy with the 5-km distance between polling booths and the villages. The villages under Mathili block are Karapali, Timasput, Khatanaguda, Kuduguda, Atalaguda, Singalaguda, Bebariguda and Gudapadara.

The polling booth employees waited long but none turned up.

As the concept of development could not reach a village under Nandahandi block in Kalahandi district, the villagers decided against exercising their franchise as a mark of protest.

People of Bhejipadara village in Kalahandi district and Gajalmamudi village in Chitrakonda of Malkangiri district boycotted polls over poor road in their areas.

Zero voting was also seen at nine polling booths under Kunturupadara police camp.

Voters in some villages of Nabarangpur district also boycotted polls over various demands.

The Maoist threat affected polling in 15 booths in the cut-off areas of Malkangiri district. These booths reported zero voting.

Likewise, the voters in Kotia area did not cast their vote in Odisha and instead preferred press the EVMs for candidates fielded in Andhra Pradesh.