Odisha is heading for the first phase of Assembly Elections in 28 constituencies on Monday. The state, which is heading for four-phase assembly elections, will also see polling in four Lok Sabha Seats on May 13.
The state has 243 nominees in the fray for the 28 assembly seats, where voting will begin at 7 am and end at 6 pm. Voting is scheduled to end at 4 PM and 5 PM in some remote places where Maoist activities are a factor.
The BJD, Congress and the BJP are contesting in all the constituencies, while nominees of some small and regional parties along with independent candidates are in the fray.
There are around 62.87 lakh electors, including 31.89 lakh women, eligible to exercise their franchise in the first round of polling for the assembly polls. The number of women voters is more than 30.97 lakh men electors in the first phase of polls in the state.
Voting will be held in Odisha in four phases and the polling will start from tomorrow. Moreover, elections will also be held on May 20, May 25 and June 1, the Election Commission has said.
Security Arrangements Made
Arrangements for webcasting have been made in 60 per cent of the 7,303 polling stations.Over 1,264 polling stations, including all booths in Maoist-affected areas, have been identified as critical ones, the CEO said.
The voting process will involve 53,000 polling personnel, with 715 all-women booths and 39 booths to be run by persons with disability, he said.
Key Candidates
Some of the key candidates in fray in Odisha assembly polls include:
- Jagannath Saraka
- Rajendra Dholkia
- Sarat Patnaik
- Bhakta Charan Das
- Taraprasad Bahinipati
- Adhiraj Panigrahi
- Bijay Patnaik
- DS Mishra
- Pradipta Naik
- Ramesh Chandra Chayupattnaik
High Octane Campaigning
In the past three months, Odisha has witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, BJP president JP Nadda, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Dev Sai campaigning for BJP candidates for the assembly polls.
Meanwhile, the BJP heavyweights including PM Modi, Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda have held separate public meetings in the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat, which lies in Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik’s home district, as the saffron party is going all out to penetrate the fortress of the Biju Janata Dal leader.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and senior leader VK Pandian have also campaigned for the BJD. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has addressed a rally at Rayagada under the Koraput Lok Sabha seat through virtual mode.
2019 Results
In the 2019 Assembly elections, Naveen Patnaik-led BJD secured 112 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly followed by BJP, which won 23 seats, and Congress with nine seats. An independent candidate and CPI(M) won one seat each.