2nd phase polling underway in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The second phase voting for five Lok Sabha constituencies and 35 Assembly seats under them is underway in Odisha, informed an official today.

The polling began at 7.00 am on Monday. Polling is being held in Aska, Bargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal, and Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituencies and the Assembly segments under them.

The electorate will decide the fate of 40 candidates in the fray in the Lok Sabha and 265 candidates in 35 Assembly constituencies.

Among the prominent candidates in the second round of simultaneous elections in the state are Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is contesting from two assembly segments (Hinjili in Ganjam district and Kantabanji in Balangir district), and BJD leaders Bikram Arukha, Niranjan Pujari, P K Amat, Tukuni Sahu, Rita Sahu, and S P Nayak. Former minister and Sundargarh’s sitting MP Jual Oram, former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey, former union minister and hotelier Dilip Ray, and BJP’s four-time Lok Sabha MP Sangeeta Singh De are also in the fray in this round of elections.

The BJD had won Aska and Kandhamal Lok Sabha seats in 2019, while three others had gone to the BJP.

A total of 79.69 lakh eligible voters, including 39.35 lakh women and 851 transgender individuals, are eligible to exercise their voting rights across 9,162 polling stations.

The polling process will continue throughout the day until the evening.