Bhubaneswar, April 10 (IANS) Polling began on a peaceful note for 10 Lok Sabha and 70 assembly seats in Odisha, an official said.
People stood in queues outside polling centres before polling started at 7 am.
"Everywhere balloting has started. We talked to all the district collectors and police officials and from nowhere have we got any complaints so far. It has started on a peaceful note," state's Chief Electoral Officer Mona Sharma told IANS.
Over 13 million electors will cast their ballots in the first phase of polling.
There are a total of 28,880,850 voters in the state. Polling for the remaining 11 Lok Sabha seats and 77 assembly seats would be held in the second phase April 17.
Security was tight, and paramilitary personnel and police have been deployed in vulnerable areas to ensure trouble-free polling.
Defying boycott call given by Maoists, people came to exercise their franchise in the southern districts of Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Kalahandi and Kandhamal.
Prominent candidates in the first phase are Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and two former chief ministers and senior Congress leaders, Giridhar Gomang and Hemananda Biswal.
State Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patro, former union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jual Oram, state BJP president K.V. Singh Deo, and Congress leader Narasingh Mishra are also in the fray.
Odisha saw intense campaigning by political heavyweights, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi, BJP chief Rajnath Singh and prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Even before the start of the 16th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023), the Delhi Capit
MHA lockdown guidelines: What’s allowed, what’s not
गृह मंत्रालय नई लॉकडाउन दिशानिर्देश
SBI Report: State Bank of India, the country's largest state-run bank, has come out with its rese
Lockdown: Police stopped vehicle coming to hospital, son picked up sick father and ran for 1 km
Thiruvananthapuram
A highly touching video from Kerala surfaced on social media on Wednes
Poonam, who murdered her husband along with her son and threw the dead body into pieces, used to
16-hour night curfew imposed in Sikkim, ban on moving from one district to another
Strict measures to deal with the increasing cases of corona infection are now increasing in all s
Is Imran Khan's government going to take such a big U-turn on Kashmir?
For the first time, Pakistan has formulated a national security policy. There are reports that Pa
The release date of the film 'The Crew' starring Kareena Kapoor, Tabu, and Kriti Sanon has been a
Mayawati has announced her support for the NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar for the Vice Presidenti
The spirit and passion of cricket in India are of a different level. With this spirit, a female f
