High Voter Turnout Marks Odisha's Final Election Phase

Odisha saw a 22.64% voter turnout by 11 am in the last phase of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Key incidents included an elderly man's death and one person injured in a clash. Voting was generally peaceful with some EVM glitches quickly resolved.

Odisha registered around 22.64 per cent voter turnout till 11 am in six Lok Sabha constituencies and 42 assembly segments where polling is underway in the last phase of simultaneous elections in the state on Saturday, officials said.

An elderly man collapsed while standing in a queue in a polling booth in Iswarpur in Nilagiri assembly segment in Balasore district. He was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead, they said.

One person was also injured in a group clash outside a polling booth in Gop area in Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seat.

Voting started at 7 am in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur parliamentary constituencies along with 42 assembly segments falling under these Lok Sabha seats.

Odisha's Chief Electoral Officer N B Dhal said voting has been peaceful so far in the 10,882 polling booths, barring some reports of EVM glitches, which were mostly resolved or the machines replaced in some cases.

He said by the ECI has replaced 79 ballot units (BU), 106 control units (CU) and 233 VVPATs. The voting was smooth in all the places..

Till 11 am, around 22.64 per cent of the over 99.61 lakh voters exercised their franchise, officials said.

Balasore recorded the highest turnout of 27.66 per cent, followed by Kendrapara (24.03), Jagatsinghpur (23.01), Mayurbhanj (22.25), Bhadrak (21.50), and Jajpur (17.10), they said.

A total of 66 candidates are in the fray in the Lok Sabha seats, while 394 nominees are contesting the assembly segments in the fourth and last phase of simultaneous polls in the eastern state.

Key candidates in this phase include Odisha Assembly Speaker Pramila Mallik, Government Chief Whip Prashant Kumar Mudili, and half-a-dozen Odisha ministers Sudam Marndi, Ashwini Patra, Pritiranjan Ghadai, Atanu S Nayak, Pratap Deb and T K Behera.

Also, four sitting MPs -- Pratap Sarangi (Balasore), Manju Lata Mandal (Bhadrak), Sarmistha Sethi (Jajpur) and Rajashree Mallick (Jagatsinghpur) – are in the fray in their respective seats.