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Stage is set for the first phase of twin polls in Odisha, comprising 10 Lok Sabha and 70 Assembly constituencies, mostly belonging to the southern and western parts of the state.
About 13.64 million electorate, which includes 69,84, 086 male and 66,62,309 female voters, will exercise their franchise tomorrow.
Parliamentary constituencies going to polls are Bargarh, Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Balangir, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Kandhamal, Aska, Berhampur and Kalahandi.
Those political stalwarts whose fate will be sealed in the voting machines tomorrow include Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patniak, two former chief ministers and Congress veterans, Hemananda Biswal and Giridhar Gomango and nine ministers of the ruling party. Others prominent leaders in the fray are former Union minister Jual Oram, former India hockey team captain, Dilip Tirkey, sitting BJD MP, Kalikesh Singhdeo, cinestar Sidhant Mohapatra (BJD), BJP state president KV Singdeo, Congress veterans Narasingh Mishra and Bhakta Das.
The chief minister is seeking re-election for the fourth time from Hinjili Assembly seat.
Since the announcement of election dates, the police and poll supervising officials have seized cash over Rs 65 lakhs (including 50 lakhs in Ganjam district alone) and 101,722 litres of liquor. Similarly, 1,578 excise cases have been lodged and 1,272 people arrested in pre-poll raids.
A total of 771 candidates, inlcuding 98 for Lok Sabha seats and 673 for the Assembly constituencies, are testing their luck in the first phase poll. Out of those contesting for the Lok Sabha seats, only six are women while the number of contestants belonging to fair sex was 52 for the assembly seats.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have fielded candidates in all the 70 assembly seats. There are also 126 independents in the fray.
While BJP, which drew blank in the last Lok Sabha poll and won only six assembly seats, is trying hard to bag more seats this time riding on the Modi wave, Congress is banking on its self-proclaimed pro-poor measures to woo the voters. The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), on the other hand, hopes to maintain its lead over its political rivals by projecting Naveen Patnaik’s clean image and development plank.
About 1,16, 066 polling personnel have been deployed in 17, 266 booths for the conduct of polls in a free and fair manner.
Security personnel were deployed in strength to avoid any untoward incident following the ‘no vote’ call given by the naxalites on the eve of the polls. About 429 coys of state police officers are posted in poll bound districts.
Three helicopters, one each for Koraput, Malkangiri and Nuapada districts, will be used for aerial survey during the polling period in the naxal infested districts. Five poll parties were airdropped in Nuapada district.
