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Time for whistle-stop tours, cajoling voters, mudslinging, calling names and taking slug fest to new lows is now over for the political leaders. It is now the voter’s call to elect their representatives as the stage is set for second and final phase of polls on Thursday in 11 Lok Sabha (LS) and 77 assembly seats in the state.
Star campaigners and political bigwigs made sorties to the constituencies seeking mandate, bollywood stars added glitter to the campaign trail before the loudspeakers fell silent on Tuesday after reaching the crescendo. As many as 1.55 crore voters will decide the fate of 98 candidates seeking election to Lok Sabha and 747 candidates in race for the state assembly seats in 13 districts, mostly belonging to the coastal region, tomorrow.
The regional and ruling party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is pulling out all stops to retain the constituencies where it had bagged nine out of 11 LS seats in 2009 polls. Opposition parties, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are seeking votes on the promise of pro-poor policies, if voted to power.
BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik are among the campaigners who addressed rallies in host of constituencies during the election campaign. Lok Sabha seats at stake are Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Jagatsingpur, Puri and Bhubaneswar.
The poll battle will be intense, especially, in the politically sensitive Balasore district where Union minister Srikant Jena is seeking re-election on Congress ticket and locked horns with BJP’s Pratap Sarangi and Rabindra Kumar Jena of the ruling BJD.
Eight incumbent ministers of the state government including Pratap Keshari Deb, Badri Narayan Patra, Rajnikant Singh, Damodar Rout, Debi Prasad Mishra are trying their luck in the poll battle. BJD Chief Whip Pravat Tripathy, Congress Chief Whip, Prasad Harichandan figure among other important leaders whose fate will be sealed in the ballot machine.
Some of the key constituencies going to polls tomorrow include Mahakalpada assembly seat where BJP leader and former minister, Bijay Mohaptra is pitted against former minister Atanu Sabyasachi (BJD), Bramhagiri, where Deputy Chief Whip, Sanjay Dasburma has locked horns with senior Congress leader, Lalatendu Mohapatra and Anandpur assembly seat in Keonjhar district where Pradesh Congress Committee president Jayadev Jena is contesting.
The presence of heavyweight MPs including Tathagat Satpathy, Baijayant Panda, Pinaki Mishra, Bhatruhari Mahtab (all from BJD) in the electoral field had added punch to the poll campaign in the state.
The last leg of poll in the state will witness some Ollywood stars trying their luck. These cinestars include veteran actor Bijaya Mohanty, who is contesting from Bhubaneswar LS constituency on Congress ticket, matinee idol, Aparajita Mohanty (Congress) from Cuttack LS seat, comedian Tatwa Prakash Satpathy alias Papu Pom Pom from Champua assembly seat and Akash Dasnayak, the BJD nominee for Korei seat.
Registered recognised national and state political parties like BJD, Congress, BJP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have fielded candidates for all the 11 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Similarly, BJD, BJP and Congress have fielded candidates in all the 77 assembly seats in the second phase polls. 150 independent candidates are in the fray for assembly constituencies.
Polling will be held at 18,692 booths, out of which 2,270 booths are identified as sensitive. 406 companies of police have been deployed for peaceful conduct of polls.
In the first phase, electorates in western and southern districts had cast their votes for 10 Lok Sabha and 70 assembly seats on April 10. The results will be declared on May 16.
