Campaign ends for 4th phase polling in Odisha

Curtains were drawn on the high decibel campaign on Saturday evening for six Lok Sabha and 41 assembly seats of Odisha where polling will be held in the fourth phase on April 29.

Electioneering had reached a feverish pitch for this phase as a galaxy of leaders from parties such as the BJP, the Congress and the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) undertook tours of the constituencies, mostly in coastal Odisha.

Polling in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seats and 41 assembly segments coming under these six constituencies will be held on Monday.

This will be the final phase of polling in Odisha, except for Patkura assembly seat where voting is slated to be held on May 19 following the death of the BJD candidate.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah crisscrossed the poll-bound segments campaigning for BJP candidates. Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and others also hit the campaign trail for the saffron party.

The Congress campaign was buoyed by party president Rahul Gandhi's rally in Balasore in the last leg. Besides, senior party leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Susmita Deb, Raj Babbar and T S Singhdeo toured the poll-bound areas.

For the ruling BJD, party president and state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik undertook extensive tours of the poll-bound areas and held roadshows. He is seeking re-election for the fifth term.

The fourth phase polling will decide the electoral fortune of 388 candidates - 52 in Lok Sabha seats and 336 in 41 assembly constituencies.

Prominent among the hopefuls include BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda (Kendrapara LS seat) and state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik (Bhandaripokhari assembly seat).

As many as 95,14,883 voters, including 46,05,694 women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the fourth phase of balloting in the state.

The state has 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats.