Bhubaneswar: The Nuapada Assembly by-election in Odisha recorded a massive voter turnout of 75.37% till 5 pm on Tuesday, as per data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Polling which began at 7 am across 358 booths, remained peaceful and smooth as voting continued until 5 pm. Voting in 47 polling stations located in remote and Maoist-affected areas concluded an hour earlier at 4 pm, to ensure the safe return of polling personnel.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said all eight helicopters carrying polling personnel have returned and voting was successfully conducted in all 165 polling stations.
In a minor glitch, the EVM (1 Ballot Unit, 1 Control Unit, and 1 VVPAT) was replaced in booth number 246. The voting process was otherwise smooth, with authorities taking all necessary precautions to ensure a fair and peaceful election, the CEO office said.
A total of 2.53 lakh voters were eligible to cast their votes in the constituency.
The bypoll saw a triangular contest between Jay Dholakia of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), former minister Snehangini Chhuria representing the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and tribal leader Ghasiram Majhi from the Congress.
To ensure peaceful polling, authorities implemented a multi-layered security arrangement, deploying 14 companies of central armed police forces along with state police. Special security attention was given to 47 sensitive and eight highly sensitive booths.
Polling teams stationed in Maoist-hit areas near the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary were airlifted by the Indian Air Force helicopters for safety and logistical support.
The polling booths were under surveillance via webcasting, enabling the CEO’s office in Bhubaneswar to monitor the proceedings directly.
Meanwhile, CEO R S Gopalan informed that a presiding officer was suspended for a breach of voting secrecy at booth number 36 in Kuliabandh. Another presiding officer, who is a teacher of an Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya (OAV) was also suspended for similar reason.
The counting of votes will be held on November 14 at the district headquarters under a three-tier security setup.
