Second phase polling begins in Orissa

Polling began this morning in 11 Lok Sabha and 77 assembly constituencies of Orissa where the second and last phase of voting is being held amid tight security.

Over 6,000 jawans of para-military forces were deployed in sensitive and naxal-infested areas. Altogether 1,736 villages across the state were identified as sensitive, while Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal and Jajpur were Maoist-hit.

867 micro observers have been deployed to keep a close watch on the exercise, while steps taken for video recording and monitoring by close circuit TVs.

A total of 1.45 crore voters, including 68.99 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase in 16,572 polling booths.

As many as 688 aspirants, including 73 women, are trying their luck in 77 assembly segments across the state.

Similarly, a total of 85 candidates, including four women, are in the fray in 11 Lok Sabha constituencies of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Bhubaneswar.

Fate of stalwarts including former Union ministers Braja Kishore Tripathy, Srikant Jena and Arjun Charan Sethi would be sealed today.

Voting for 10 of the 21 Lok Sabha and 70 of the 147 assembly constituencies in the state was held on April 16 in the first phase.