72 per cent voter turnout in Odisha

Odisha has recorded 72 per cent voter turnout during the second phase of polling held in five Lok Sabha and 35 assembly constituencies, a senior poll official said on Friday.

Bargarh Lok Sabha constituency recorded the highest voter turn-out of 77.57 per cent, while Aska posted the lowest voting of 66.30 per cent during the polling held on Thursday, the official said

Voter turn-out stood at 72.42 per cent in Bolangir parliamentary seat, while it was 71.44 per cent in Sundargarh and 72.88 per cent in Kandhamal, he said.

Polling was peaceful in all the constituencies including those in Maost-affected areas and people turned out in large numbers to exercise their franchise despite a boycott call given by the red rebels, he said.

 

No untoward incident occurred in Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat where a woman polling officer was shot dead by Maoists and three vehicles were set ablaze in separate incidents on Wednesday, a police official said.

Recommendation has been made for fresh polling in six booths - two each in Bargarh, Sundargarh and Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituencies - due to human error during replacement of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.

Meanwhile, three polling parties in Maoist-affected Kandhamal returned from their respective booths to the district headquarters after walking down 15 km in the forest on Friday morning, an EC official said.

A team from a booth at Barala village under Phiringia police station left for the district headquarters after polling, but its members could not proceed as the road was blocked by trees felled by Maoists, the officials said.

The polling party stayed back at Barala and left in the morning escorted by security personnel. It reached Balandapada after covering about 15 km on foot walking through dense jungles fearing Maoist attack and then moved to the the district headquarters after being picked up by the authorities from the main road, they said.

Two other polling parties on duty in two booths at Sirla village under Tumudibandha block were advised by security personnel not to travel by road because of the Maoist threat.

They walked through dense forests on Thursday night accompanied by security personnel and reached Tumudibandha block in the early hours on Friday and then proceeded to the district headquarters, the officials said.