Bhubaneswar: A presiding officer for by-election to Nuapada Assembly constituency has been suspended for violating the secrecy of voting, Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R S Gopalan informed on Tuesday.
The suspended officer has been identified as Dhananjay Mallick. He was in charge of polling station 36 at Government Upper Primary School (GUPS) in Kuliabandha.
Gopalan explained that the presiding officer, a schoolteacher, was suspended for failing to ensure voting secrecy. “The CCTV footage showed two people in the polling compartment: an elderly woman needing assistance and her attendant. The attendant allegedly voted on her behalf instead of assisting. The presiding officer should have intervened, but did not. Hence, he has been suspended. The attendant also voted twice,” he told a presser, adding voting otherwise continued peacefully across the constituency.
The CEO said that the first polling officer has been assigned his duties, with a reserve officer deployed.
He further stated that polling across Nuapada constituency, including sensitive and Sakhi booths, is being continuously monitored from the state headquarters to ensure a free, fair, and transparent election.
Reports also indicated that voting at booth 76 in Mongrapali, under Khariar Road, was briefly delayed earlier in the day due to a technical issue with the EVM. The defective machine was promptly replaced, allowing polling to continue smoothly.
Meanwhile, 32.51% of the 2.53 lakh electors, including 1,24,108 males, 1,29,495 females and 21 transgenders, exercised their franchise in the first four hours of voting across two NAC areas and 63 gram panchayats spread over Nuapada and Komna blocks, to decide the fate of 14 candidates in the fray.
BJP candidate Jay Dholakia and Congress candidate Ghasiram Majhi cast their votes at their respective polling booths before 11 am, while BJD candidate Snehangini Chhuria visited several booths to take stock of the polling process. Voting will continue till 4 pm in sensitive booths and till 5 PM in other areas. Counting of votes is scheduled for November 14.
The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of four-time MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8.
