Polling Begins For 6 LS, 42 Assembly Seats In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Elections to 6 Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly seats in the third-phase began in Odisha on Tuesday.

A total of 92,56,922 voters, comprising 47,99,030 male, 44,56,729 women and 1163 transgenders will decide the fate of 417 candidates.

For the six Lok Sabha seats, 61 candidates, including six women, are in the fray while of 356 candidates, 37 are women and one transgender are contesting 42 Assembly seats.

Polling is underway in 10,464 booths in six Lok Sabha seats of Sambalpur (General), Keonjhar (ST), Dhenkanal (General), Cuttack (General), Bhubaneswar (General) and Puri (General) and 42 Assembly seats of Kuchinda (ST), Rengali (SC), Sambalpur (General), Redhakhol (General), Deogarh (General), Chhendipada (SC), Athamallik (General), Telkoi (ST), Ghasipura (General), Anandpur (SC), Patana (ST), Keonjhar (ST), Champua (General), Karanjia (ST), Dhenkanal (General), Hindol (SC), Kamakhyanagar (General), Parjang (General), Pallahara (General), Talcher (General), Angul (General), Badamba (General), Banki (General), Athagarh (General), Cuttack-Barabati (General), Choudwar-Cuttack (General), Cuttack Sadar (SC), Khandapara (General), Puri (General), Brahmagiri (General), Satyabadi (General), Pipili (General), Chilika (General), Ranpur (General), Nayagarh (General), Jayadeb (General), Bhubaneswar-Central (General), Bhubaneswar-North (General), Bhubaneswar-Ekamra (General), Jatni (General), Begunia (General) and Khurda (General).

Barring the booths in the Maoist-hit districts, where polling will be held from 7 am to 4 pm, voters will cast votes in the remaining booths from 7 am to 6 pm.

Of 10,464 booths, 3,186 have been identified as ‘sensitive’ and CCTV cameras installed in 779 booths. Besides, videography will be done in 372 booths and webcasting in 260 booths.

To ensure smooth polling, 600 personnel of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed in the sensitive booths in Maoist-prone areas.

To assist the physically-challenged voters, arrangements for wheelchairs have been made in 9576 booths.

A total of 68,422 polling officials are being engaged in these polling booths.