The Kandhamal district administration heaved a sigh of relief as the polls in three of its assembly segments- Baliguda, Phulabani and G Udayagiri was by and large peaceful. All these three constituencies are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs).
About 55 per cent of around 4.30 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the polls and no untoward incident as reported in the Naxal prone and riot hit district. The polling began sharp at 7 am amidst heavy security and it continued till 4 pm in some places due to heavy turn out of the voters.
The Election Commission had, however, fixed the voting time till 3 pm in the Naxal prone areas. The candidates of almost all the major political parties were in the fray from these three assembly constituencies of the district s well as from the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat. Ashok Sahu and Manoj Pradhan the BJP’s candidates in the fray from the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat and the Udayagiri assembly segment respectively are contesting the elections while lodged in jail.
All eyes were on the tribal dominated Kandhamal district as it had hit headlines recently due to the communal riots as well as the threat from extremists. Several activists including the minority Christian leaders had urged the Election Commissioner to defer the elections in the district as several riot-hit people were yet to return to their own places.
“The election passed off peacefully without any untoward incident. About 90 per cent of the riot hit refugees, lodged in the five relief camps have exercised their voting rights”, Kandhamal district collector Kishan Kumar said.
Following the directive of the Election Commission, the district administration had provided adequate security and transport facilities to the camp inmates. The camp inmates have been provided transportation as well as protection for voting as per the special guidelines of the Election Commission.