AMN/ WEB DESK
In Odisha, campaigning for the fifth phase of elections scheduled on this Monday came to an end on Saturday (18th May 2024). Five Lok Sabha seats in the state, Bargarh, Sundergarh, Balangir, Kandhamal and Aska parliamentary constituencies, and 35 Assembly constituencies under their purview are going for simultaneous polls in this phase.
Polling staff have already started moving towards the 9,162 polling booths where 40 lakh 33 thousand 992 men and 39 lakh 45 thousand women voters will cast their votes. Election Commission sources say, 20 percent of these booths are sensitive, while 102 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed for free and fair elections in all these constituencies. More from our correspondent:
The high voltage election campaign by major political parties like BJD, BJP and Congress for the 5th phase of elections in five Lok Sabha Constituencies and 35 Assembly seats under these Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha came to an end on Saturday (18th May 2024). Out of these Lok Sabha seats, BJP had won Bargarh, Sundergarh and Balangir in the 2019 polls, while BJD had won Kandhamal and Aska. This time many BJP heavyweights including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party national president JP Nadda held roadshows and addressed public meetings seeking votes for their nominees. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also campaigned in some of the constituencies going for polls in 5th phase.
Odisha Chief Minister and BJD Supremo Naveen Patnaik also addressed a number of public meetings and held roadshows urging people to vote for BJD nominees. There are 40 candidates in the five Lok Sabha and 265 nominees in 35 Assembly constituencies in this phase of elections including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, senior BJP leader and former Union Ministers Jual Oram and Dilip Ray, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, former Indian Hockey captain Dilip Tirkey, whose fate will be decided by voters.