The first phase polling for the parliamentary and assembly seats in Orissa today witnessed 52.6 percent voters turning out to cast their votes despite the warning issued by the Naxalites in many parts of southern and western Orissa to boycott the polls.
Nawarangpur parliamentary seat recorded the highest voter turnout of 60 percent while Malkangiri Lok Sabha seat reported the lowest 41 percent polling. However, the voter turnout in the communally sensitive Kandhamal district was about 52 percent and with some more voters being in the queue to cast their votes when the last reports came in, the percentage is likely to increase further.
Talking to the media persons here, chief electoral officer (CEO) for Orissa Alka Panda said, there were no report of casualty due to the polls and it was largely peaceful. Similarly, there was no case of booth capturing reported from any where in the 10 parliamentary and 70 assembly constituencies that went to the polls in the first phase.
Panda said, there were cases of snatching of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in 6 booths. The EVM was taken away by miscreants in booth no 68 in Chitrakonda assembly segment. Similar incidents were reported in 4 other booths in Malkangiri Lok Sabha constituency and one in Bonai assembly seat. However, poll could not be completed in one booth at Nuapada and one booth in Rengali assembly constituency due to technical snags, she added.
While one Jeep was burnt in Chitrakonda, non-functioning of 100 EVMs were reported from different palces. The polling started after the change of these EVMs. Though there was no casualty, a micro- observer died due to cardiac arrest in Bonai assembly constituency. In total 1111 micro-observers were deployed in the first phase of elections.
Full proof security arrangement was made for polling in Nawarangpur and Kandhamal and 49 companies of Central Paramilitary Forces (CPF) were deployed for today’s polls. While polling remained subdued in rural and remote areas in the early hours, the voters’ turn-out picked up gradually. There were poll boycott in 20 booths belonging to different constituencies.
