LS, Assembly polls: 41 pct of electorate cast vote till 1 pm in Odisha

A voter turnout of 41 per cent has been recorded in Odisha till 1 pm where polling is being held in four Lok Sabha seats and 28 assembly constituencies on Thursday. "As per reports received from the constituencies, approximately 41 per cent of the electorate have cast their vote till 1 pm," Chief Electoral Officer Surendra Kumar said. Polling was in progress in a peaceful manner, he said.

The CEO said that technical glitches were noticed in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in several booths, but sectoral officers replaced the defective machines within 30 to 40 minutes. Despite some delay in starting the polling in these booths, the process picked up after corrective measures were taken by the concerned officials, he said. In a booth located atop a hill in an inaccessible area of Nuapada district, the poll personnel took quick steps to replace a defective EVM, he said.

To a query about voters boycotting election at Kotpad in Koraput district over some local problems, the CEO said efforts were being made to convince them to exercise their democratic right. Long queues were seen at polling stations in the morning hours in Koraput, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur and Berhampur Lok Sabha constituencies and 28 assembly segments. Snags in EVMs were reported from Malkangiri and Chitrakonda areas under Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat, Lamptaput and Jeypore in Koraput and Gopalpur, Digapahandi and Berhampur, sources said. While polling will be held in 8 assembly segments till 6 pm, voting will end at 4 pm in 20 Maoist-affected constituencies, the CEO said.

Prominent among those who voted were former union minister Chandra Sekhar Sahoo who is the BJD candidate from Berhampur Lok Sabha seat and BJP Odisha unit president Basant Panda, also in the fray from Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat. Congress leader and former union minister Bhakta Charan Das and BJD's Pushpendra Singhdeo, who are crossing swords in Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat, also voted. Lok Sabha and assembly elections are being held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases. Polling for the next three phases will be held on April 18, 23 and 29. There are 21 Lok Sabha and 147 assembly seats in the state.

(With inputs from agencies.)