Odisha Elections 2024: Almost 50% Polling By 3 PM In Last Phase Amid Widespread Violence

Bhubaneswar: Odisha recorded a voter turnout of 49.77 per cent by 3 pm as polling was marred by widespread violence during fourth and final phase of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections on Saturday.

Sources said Balasore saw the highest voter turnout of 54.04%, followed by Jagatsinghpur (52.52%), Mayurbhanj (51.03%), Jajpur (48.8%), Kendrapada (46.46%) and Bhadrak (46.33%).

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said polling remained by and large peaceful so far barring sporadic incidents, and over 49.77 per cent of the electorate have exercised their franchise by 3 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.

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.

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.

They accused BJD’s Ramesh Jena of engaging scores of people to attack them.

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.

In another development, around 1500 voters of Ramachandrapur in Saraskana Assembly constituency of Mayurbhanj reportedly boycotted voting protesting lack of basic facilities in the area. They said they decided to stay away from voting in support of their demand for grant of revenue village status to Ramachandrapur.

Key Lok Sabha candidates 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.