Cuttack/Dhenkanal/Puri: Voters of six Parliamentary constituencies of Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri and Bhubaneswar in Odisha made a beeline outside polling booths to elect their Lok Sabha representatives today in the third-phase polls.
Similarly, the 42 Assembly seats that are polling today for MLA candidates are- Kuchinda, Rengali, Sambalpur, Rairakhol, Deogarh, Chhendipada, Athmallik, Karanjia, Champua, Patna, Keonjhar, Telkoi, Ghasipura, Anandpur, Parjanga, Pallahara, Angul, Hindol, Dhenkanal, Talcher, Kamakhyanagar, Baramba, Banki, Athagarh, Barabati-Cuttack, Choudwar-Cuttack, Cuttack Sadar, Khandapada, Puri, Brahmagiri, Satyabadi, Pipili, Chilika, Ranpur, Nayagarh, Jaydev, BBSR Central, BBSR North, Ekamra, Jatani, Begunia and Khurda.
While voting started on time at 7 am in most places, there were technical difficulties in some booths due to which polling began few minutes later. By 6 pm in the evening, the process is expected to be complete.
Voting is underway at 10,464 polling stations. 92,56,922 voters will exercise their franchise. Out them, 47,99,030 are male voters, 44,56,729 female voters, 1,163 third gender voters. Meanwhile, 59,500 polling officers have been deployed to carry out free and fair elections.
In Sambalpur, Biju Janata Dal’s Nalinikanta Pradhan, Congress’ Sarat Patnaik and BJP’s Nitesh Ganga Deb are contesting the Lok Sabha seat. In Keonjhar, the fight is between BJD’s Chandrani Murmu, BJP’s Ananta Nayak and Congress’ Mohan Hembram. In Dhenkanal, BJD’s Mahesh Sahu is going against BJP’s Rudra Narayan Pani and Congress’ KP Singhdeo. In Cuttack, the fight is among BJD’s Bhartuhari Mahtab, BJP’s Prakash Mishra and Congress’ Panchanan Kanungo. In Puri, BJD’s Pinaki Mishra, BJP’s Sambit Patra and Congress’ Satya Prakash Nayak are fighting for the LS seat. In Bhubaneswar, BJD’s Arup Patnaik, BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi and Congress- backed CPI’s Janardan Pati are fighting for the LS seat.