Forty-one of the 147 assembly seats in Odisha will go to polls in the fourth phase of voting in the state. Along with Odisha, bypoll is being held on the Chhindwara Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh where Chief Minister Kamal Nath is in the fray.
In Odisha, Assembly election is being held along with voting for six of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Odisha is voting for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in four phases. This is the final phase of polling, except for Patkura assembly seat, where voting is scheduled to be held on May 19 following the death of the BJD candidate. On Monday, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha constituencies will be voting along with the 41 assembly segments that come under them. The fourth phase polling will decide the electoral fate of 388 candidates – 52 in six Lok Sabha seats and 336 in 41 assembly constituencies.
In Madhya Pradesh, bypoll is being held on the Chhindwara Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh where Chief Minister Kamal Nath is in the fray. After taking over as the CM following Congress’ victory in the last year’s Assembly polls, Kamal Nath needs to get elected to the state Legislature within six months.
Stay with us for all updates related to Assembly Elections in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh bypoll:
## Long queues of voters were seen outside the polling stations, even before the process commenced at 7 am. However, there were some technical glitches in EVMs reported at some places which delayed the polling in 60 booths. The polling began after the snags were rectified. As per poll officials, an estimated nine per cent of the 95.06 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling in six Lok Sabha and 41 assembly constituencies of Odisha.
## Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath casts his vote
## Key candidates: In Odisha, prominent candidates in the fourth phase are BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda, who is seeking re-election from Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat and BJP’s Pratap Sarangi from Balasore Lok Sabha constituency. The ruling BJD, has fielded actor-turned Rajya Sabha MP Anubhav Mohanty against Baijayant Panda. In Balasore Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has pitted its firebrand leader Pratap Sarangi against sitting BJD MP Rabindra Jena. The Congress has fielded OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik’s son Nabajyoti Patnaik in Balasore.
## Security in Odisha: The Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) has been deployed in the critical and sensitive booths in Odisha. Steps have also been taken to maintain a close vigil in trouble-prone areas. Arrangements have been made to webcast the polling process at 700 booths and poll vehicles have been provided with GPS tracking system and digital and video cameras will be positioned in the booths. Over 60,000 polling personnel have been engaged to conduct polling on Monday.
## Convenience of voters: The Election Commission has made arrangements in Odisha for providing tents and chairs in the booths to give respite to the voters from the scorching heat. Vehicles have been deployed to transport differently abled voters, while wheel chairs and volunteers will be available for assistance at the polling booths.
## Electorate in Odisha: Nearly 95,14,883 lakh people are eligible to vote on Monday, of whom 46,05,694 are women and 615 belong to the third gender.
Bureau Report
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