Bhubaneswar, April 23 (Inditop) The last of the two phase Lok Sabha and assembly elections began in Orissa amid tight security Thursday morning, officials said.
Hundreds of people were seen standing outside polling booths in the capital when voting began at 7 a.m.
“Voting started peacefully. No untoward incidents have been reported from any part of the state so far,” a police official said.
An electorate of more than 14.5 million, including about seven million women, will decide the fate of 84 candidates contesting 11 Lok Sabha seats and 688 politicians contesting 77 assembly constituencies.
Prominent among the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections in the second phase are M.A. Kharabela Swain (Balasore), Ananta Nayak (Keonjhar) and Braja Kishore Tripathy (Puri). Tripathy had resigned from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on being denied a ticket and joined the BJP.
From the Congress, former central minister Srikanta Jena is contesting from Balasore, and Ranjib Biswal from Kendrapada. Among the key BJD candidates are industrialist- turned Rajya Sabha member Baijayant Jay Panda (Kendrapada), Tathagat Satpathy (Dhenkanal) and Pinaki Mishra (Puri).
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