77 per cent voters turn out to cast their ballots in Odisha bypoll
By Suryanarayan Panda
BHUBANESWAR, FEB.25: At least 77 voters on Saturday turned out to cast their ballots in assembly by-elections held for Bijepur seat in Odisha’s Bargarh district.
“Voting for by-election started at 8 am amid tight security at 281 polling booths. The process continued till 5 pm. The entire election process passed peacefully,” Chief Electoral Officer Surendra Kumar told reporters in the evening.
About 2,21,144 voters were slated to exercise their franchise which will decide the fate of 13 candidates, including BJD’s Rita Sahu, BJP’s Ashok Panigrahi and Congress’ Pranaya Sahu.
While 155 booths were identified as ‘sensitive,’ a total of 36 platoons of police force and five companies of central paramilitary force were deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the bypoll.
Interruption in polling was reported at some booths as EVM and VVPAT machines developed technical glitches there. Worth mentioning, VVPAT machines were being used in the state for the first time for voting.
The counting of votes and declaration of results will take place on February 28.
Notably, death of Congress MLA Subal Sahu, husband of Rita sahu, on August 22, 2017 had necessitated the Bijepur bypoll.
