Bhubaneswar: Approximately 1 crore voters will decide the fate of 66 Lok Sabha and 394 Vidhan Sabha candidates, contesting in the last phase of simultaneous elections in Odisha.
Voting began at 7 am in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seats, along with 42 assembly segments under these six parliamentary seats amid tight security. More than 70,000 polling officials and 36,000 security personnel have been deployed for the simultaneous polling at 10,822 booths from 7 am to 6 pm as there are no Maoist-hit zones under these Lok Sabha seats. About 2,280 polling booths have been identified as critical.
Amid the prevailing intense heat, special arrangements have been made at polling stations to cater to voter’s needs, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Nikunja Bihari Dhal.
Among the key contestants are former Union Ministers Srikant Jena and Pratap Sarangi, BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda, as well as BJD stalwarts Sudam Marndi, Lekhasri Samantsinghar, Manjulata Mandal, Rajashree Mallick and Ansuman Mohanty. In the Assembly election, BJP State President Manmohan Samal, former Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President Niranjan Patnaik, State Ministers Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Pratap Deb and Pritiranjan Ghadai and Speaker of Odisha Assembly Pramila Mallick are in the fray.
Barring Mayurbhanj and Balasore, the other four seats in the coastal belt of the state are known to be BJD strongholds. Of the 42 assembly segments, the BJD won in 34, whereas the BJP secured victories in eight in 2019 elections.
