PM Narendra Modi Urges Odisha To Vote In Large Numbers As 1st Round Polling Begins

Bhubaneswar: Polling for four Lok Sabha – Berhampur, Koraput, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur – and 28 Vidhan Sabha seats in Odisha commenced at 7 am on Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also called upon voters in Odisha to exercise their franchise. “Assembly Elections commence in Odisha today. I call upon the people of this state to cast their franchise in large numbers. Your vote is your voice—let it be heard loudly and clearly,” he posted on X.

In total, voting is underway in 7303 polling stations in eight districts of the state. Except Nuapada, the remaining seven – Ganjam (5 of 13 Assembly seats) Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, and Kalahandi – are in South Odisha.

The voter turnout till 9 am was 9.25%.

Addressing a presser, Chief Electoral Officer Nikunja Bihari Dhal glitches were found in several EVMs during mock poll and those were subsequently replaced. “EVMs with technical glitch will be replaced within 30 minutes,” he assured the voters.

Earlier, there were reports that technical glitches in EVM had delayed polling in Booth No. 66 at Malkangiri’s Kumutiguda, Booth No. 101 at Nuapada, Booth No. 89 and 72 at Khariar’s Loharapali and Podapali respectively. Voting in Booth No. 160 & 194 in Jeypore and Booth No. 59 and 60 at Boriguma was also held up for the same reason.

A thick security cover has also been put in place in Nabarangpur and Koraput Lok Sabha (LS) seats where Maoists have called for poll boycott. Voters were seen lining up  at a booth in Chitrakonda assembly segment of Malkangiri, where 25 CAPF companies have been deployed to maintain law and order during the polls, this morning.

Fate of 37 candidates, including seven women, will be sealed for the four Lok Sabha seats. For the 28 assembly seats, 243 candidates, including 29 women, are in the fray.

Polling is being held in 96 parliamentary constituencies across nine states and one union territory. Besides Odisha, the Lok Sabha Phase 4 elections is being held in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Andhra is also voting for all 175 seats of legislative assembly.