Odisha to undergo simultaneous polls from Apr 11

Odisha will go to simultaneous polls for both the Lok Sabha and Assembly in four phases beginning April 11, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar said on Sunday. Polling will be held for 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 Assembly constituencies in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29, Kumar said.

On the first day, polling will be held in four Lok Sabha constituencies and 28 Assembly seats while on April 18, people of five Lok Sabha segments and 35 Assembly seats will cast their votes. On April 23 and April 29, voters in six Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly segments each will exercise their democratic rights.

While polling will be held in Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Berhampur and Koraput Lok Sabha segments and Assembly seats under their jurisdiction on April 11 on the first phase, voters in Bargarh, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Aska Lok Sabha seats and assembly segments under them will franchise their rights in the second phase on April 18. The third phase of polling will be held in Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri and Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha segments and assembly constituencies under them on April 23.

The fourth and last phase of polling will be held in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha segments and assembly constituencies under them on April 29. The counting of votes will be done on May 23 in Odisha and across the country.

The model code of conduct has come into force immediately with the announcement of poll dates, Kumar said. Notification for the first phase will be made on March 18 and March 19 is the date for the second phase notification.

Similarly, notification for the third and fourth phase will be made on March 28 and April 2 respectively. He said the reason of four phase polling is made keeping in view the security arrangements.

"We are prepared and committed for free, fair, accessible and peaceful polling," Kumar said. The CEO said adequate security arrangement will be made in Maoist affected areas.

The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will be deployed in the Maoist hit areas in Odisha and adjoining states for smooth conduct of polling. He said all the departments have been directed to appoint their nodal officers to ensure that hoardings, banners, posters and photographs of political leaders which are not in accordance with the model code are removed.

According to the final voter list issued on January 21, Kumar said there are 3.18 crore voters in the state and polling will be held in 37,606 booths across the state. After Puducherry, Odisha has the maximum number of voters with a physical disability.

(With inputs from agencies.)