Bhubaneswar: The high decibel campaign for first phase general elections in Odisha came to an end today.
Four Lok Sabha and 28 Assembly seats of the state will go to the polls on April 11 in this phase. As many as 60.3 lakh voters will decide the fate of 217 candidates contesting in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 7,233 booths this time.
While 26 candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha elections, 191 candidates are fighting the Assembly polls, said the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
The four Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in this phase are Berhampur, Kalahandi, Koraput and Nabarangpur.
Several political heavyweights including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and some Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states, Union ministers and other senior national level leaders campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.
For the Congress, party President Rahul Gandhi hit the road and sought votes for the Congress candidates. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and other senior leaders of the party also held rallies and meetings.
Biju Janata Dal President and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took up the fight for the party as he campaigned extensively in the four Lok Sabha constituencies.
The voters will decide the fate of several stalwarts including Bhakta Charan Das (Congress), Pradeep Majhi (Congress), Jairam Pangi (BJP), Basant Panda (BJP), Chandrasekhar Sahu (BJD), Ramesh Majhi (BJD) and Puspendra Singhdeo (BJD). All are contesting for the Lok Sabha election. Many state ministers are also in the fray for the Assembly seats.
The Election Commission has deployed substantial number of security personnel to ensure a free and fair election in the state. With several constituencies being in Maoist-hit areas, tight security arrangements have been made to prevent any untoward incident.
Bijay Kumar Sharma, who took over as the DGP in-charge of Odisha, said that the police was geared up to ensure the peaceful conduct of the elections in Maoist-dominated areas many of which go to the polls in the first phase. (IANS)
