Odisha's Pipili goes to bypoll, 5 months after being countermanded

The administration has also set up 20 model booths, where various initiatives have been taken to welcome the voters, Verma said.The by-election was necessitated following the death of BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy in October last year.

More than five months after the by-poll was countermanded, the Pipili assembly constituency in Odisha’s Puri district is finally set to go for the election on Thursday amid tight security. The by-poll was originally scheduled to take place on April 17, but it had been countermanded following death of the then Congress candidate. It was then deferred twice for different reasons. Puri Superintendent of Police K V Singh said nine platoons (each platoon comprises 30 personnel) of BSF and 25 platoons of state armed police force apart from general police have been put on duty for the by-election.

Of the 348 polling booths in Pipili, 201 were declared as 'sensitive' of which 102 were ‘hypersensitive. Pipili constituency has a history of witnessing political violence.

Micro observers were appointed besides arrangements for webcast and video recording at violence-prone booths are in place, Singh said the 348 polling booths have been divided into four zones and are being supervised by three Additional SPs assisted by four Deputy Sps. An explosion inside Balanga police station, which falls within the constituency, on Monday night had sparked tension in the locality.

Adequate precautions have been taken to make the by-poll “Covid-19 Free”, Puri district magistrate-cum-collector Samarth Verma said on Tuesday.

''All polling parties have reached the 348 polling stations by this evening. All booths have been sanitised,” he said.

Altogether 2,29,998 voters will exercise their franchise between 7 am and 6 pm. The administration has also set up 20 model booths, where various initiatives have been taken to welcome the voters, Verma said.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy in October last year. The by-poll was first scheduled to be held on April 17 but it was countermanded after Congress candidate Ajit Mangaraj died of Covid-19 on April 14.

Then the by-poll was slated for May 13. It was deferred due to a festival on that day and rescheduled on May 16. However, once again, it was postponed in the wake of the second wave of the pandemic. While the BJD fielded Pradeep Maharathy's son Rudrapratap Maharathy as its candidate, Ashrit Patnaik is the BJP nominee. The Congress has nominated Biswhwokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra.

Votes will be counted on October 3.

About 2200 polling personnel who were fully inoculated against coronavisus were engaged for the by-poll.

As per the ECI guidelines, all the election agents, counting agents and others deployed by the candidates have to be fully vaccinated. Thermal scanning of the voters will be done at the entrance of booths and masks and sanitiser will be provided to them, the officials said.

The state government has declared holiday in offices and judicial establishment on Thursday due to the by-poll in Pipili. PTI AAMM NN NN