Bhubaneswar: An estimated 62.46 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise by 5 pm during the fourth and final phase of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha amid violence in several places on Saturday.
Sources said Jagatsinghpur saw the highest voter turnout of 65.93%, followed by Mayurbhanj (64.17%), Jajpur (62.92%), Kendrapada (62.02%), Balasore (61.91% and Bhadrak (58.21%).
As per the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), polling was by and large peaceful barring sporadic incidents, and over 62.46 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise by 5 pm during the final round of the four-phase elections in the state.
Polling, which began at 7 am at 10,822 booths in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seats, along with 42 assembly segments under these six parliamentary seats amid tight security, will end in the evening.
While 66 Lok Sabha and 394 Assembly candidates are in the fray, over 99.61 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the final phase of elections in the state.
While violent incidents were reported from some places including Kendrapada, Konark and Jajpur, allegations of rigging were made in several polling booths in Mahanga and Salepur.
Amid widespread violence, a BJP booth president was injured after being allegedly stabbed by BJD workers in Kendrapada Lok Sabha constituency.
As per preliminary information, BJP workers alleged that their party’s booth president was stabbed by some BJD activists during voting. The incident reportedly took place at booth No. 35 in Kendrapada.
A complaint has been lodged with the police regarding the violent incident.
In another incident, a BJP worker, identified as Rashmi Ranjan Jena, was injured after being attacked with sharp weapon allegedly by some BJD activists in Nilakanthapur panchayat of Pattamundai under Kendrapada district.
Similarly, tension prevailed in Salepur area following a murderous attack on the BJP MLA candidate’s agent and three others allegedly by BJD workers at booth number 184 and 185 in Malasasan when polling was underway.
BJP workers claimed that when they objected to the act of booth capturing, BJD activists assaulted them. Though some police personnel were present, they remained mute spectators, they claimed, adding that five persons were injured in the attack.
Sanjay Rout, election agent of BJP MLA candidate Arindam Roy said there should be repolling in the booths as they were captured by BJD workers.
The magistrate and collector of Cuttack said that in booth No -184 and 185 of Salipur Assembly Constituency, both the parties clashed around 150 metres from the booths. Presence of the candidate aggravated the situation, he said, denying any attack with sharp weapons.
Webcasting at 184 and 185 booths showed that polling was normal. Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) was deployed at booth No. 85 and polling was normal there.
Similarly, police mobile teams reached booth Nos. 116 and 176 and there was no untoward incident and booth rigging, the collector said.
In the morning, polling in some booths was reportedly disrupted due to malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and voting became normal after the authorities sorted out the issues.
Official sources said that EVM glitches were reported in around seven locations in Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak and Balasore and the issues were resolved quickly.
Key Lok Sabha candidates in the last phase included former Union Ministers Srikant Jena and Pratap Sarangi, BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda, BJD stalwarts Sudam Marndi, Lekhasri Samantsinghar, Manjulata Mandal, Rajashree Mallick and Ansuman Mohanty.
