High voltage poll campaign for phase-1 ends in Odisha

The hectic and high voltage campaign for four Lok Sabha and 28 Assembly seats in Odisha, going to the polls in the first phase on April 11, concluded on Tuesday.

Over 60 lakh voters will decide the fate of 217 candidates contesting in the Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies in the first phase in Odisha.

While 26 candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha elections, 191 candidates are fighting the Assembly polls, said the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

The four Lok Sabha constituencies in the first phase are Berhampur, Kalahandi, Koraput and Nabarangpur.

Several political heavyweights including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and some Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states, Union ministers and other senior national level leaders campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.

For the Congress, party President Rahul Gandhi hit the road and sought votes for the Congress candidates. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and other senior leaders of the party also held rallies and meetings.

Biju Janata Dal President and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took up the fight for the party as he campaigned extensively in the four Lok Sabha constituencies.

The voters will decide the fate of several stalwarts including Bhakta Charan Das (Congress), Pradeep Majhi (Congress), Jairam Pangi (BJP), Basant Panda (BJP), Chandrasekhar Sahu (BJD), Ramesh Majhi (BJD) and Puspendra Singhdeo (BJD). All are contesting for the Lok Sabha election. Many state ministers are also in the fray for the Assembly seats.

The Election Commission has deployed substantial number of security personnel to ensure a free and fair election in the state. With several constituencies being in Maoist-hit areas, tight security arrangements have been made to prevent any untoward incident.

Bijay Kumar Sharma, who took over as the DGP in-charge of Odisha, said that the police was geared up to ensure the peaceful conduct of the elections in Maoist-dominated areas many of which go to the polls in the first phase.

About 60.3 lakh voters are expected to cast their ballots in 7,233 booths in the first phase.

--IANS

cd/rs/bg