Odisha Bypoll: Voting Underway At 252 Booths In Dhamnagar

Bhadrak: The voting for bypoll to Dhamnagar Assembly Constituency in Odisha’s Bhadrak district began at 7 am on Thursday amid tight security.

Polling, which will continue till 6 pm, was delayed at booth number 15 in Mangalpur Primary School due to a technical glitch, sources said.

A total of 2,38,417 voters, including 1.23 lakh males and 1.15 lakh females, will seal the fate of five candidates– Abanti Das (BJD), Suryabanshi Suraj (BJP), Baba Harekrushna Sethi (Congress), Rajendra Kumar Das (Independent) and Pabitra Mohan Das (Independent).

Around  1,000 police personnel and four companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed for the by-election. The entry and exit points of the constituency have been sealed.

Among the 252 booths, 110 were declared sensitive, and there will be webcasting in 126 booths, officials said. There are 15 model booths and five pink booths, which have women security personnel and polling officials. A total of 1,008 polling officers have been deployed, added sources.

Special arrangements for pick-up and drop arrangements have been made for voters with physical disabilities.

The voters can produce 12 alternative photo identity documents in the absence of Voter ID Card including an Aadhar Card, MGNREGA Job Card, Passbooks with photographs issued by Banks/ Post Office, Health Insurance Smart Card issued by the Ministry of Labour, Driving Licence, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI, Indian Passport, Pension Document with Photograph, Service Identity Cards with Photo issued by Central/ State Government Offices / PSUs and Unique Disability ID (UCID) issued by Min. of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The votes will be counted on November 6.

In the 2019 assembly election, 72.64 per cent of voters cast their votes, while it was 73.46 per cent in 2014.