Bhubaneswar, May 20 (UNI) About 6.99 percent of 79.62 lakh voters have exercised their franchise in five Lok Sabha and 35 Assembly seats in Odisha in the first two hours since 7 am, Chief Electoral Officer G B Dhal said.
ECI sources said out of five Lok Sabha seats, Bargarh recorded the highest percentage of 9.31 percent voting till 9 am followed by Aska (7.62 percent), Kandhamal (6.79 percent), Bolangir (5.76 percent) and Sundargarh (4.89 percent).
In Bargarh Lok Sabha seat, out of seven assembly segments Bhatli Assembly seat recorded highest polling of 11.48 percent followed by Atabira (10 percent).
Under Aska Lok Sabha seat, the voter turnout was 8.65 percent in Kabisuryanagar Assembly seat, highest among the seven assembly seats, followed by Sankhemundi assembly seat (8.56 percent), while Birmaharajpur and Sonepur Assembly seats under Bolangir Lok Sabha seat recorded 8.1 percent polling each by 9 am.
On the other hand, the Kantamal and G Udayagiri Assembly seats under Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat recorded 8.39 percent and 8.28 percent polling respectively.
In Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat which among the five Lok sabha seats recorded the lowest polling, Raghunathpalli Assembly seat reported 9.06 percent polling.
Today’s polling will seal the fate of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is contesting from both Hinjili and Kantabanji Assembly seats, his six council of ministers, two fomer union Ministers Jual Oram and Dillip Ray, four former Odisha ministers and several sitting MLAs.
The polling will decide the electoral fortunes of sitting MPs Jual Oram (Sundargarh), Sangeeta Singdeo (Bolangir) and Achyuat Samant (Kandhamal).
In the 2019 general elections, out of the five Lok Sabha seats, the BJP had won the Sundargarh, Bolangir and Bargarh seat while the ruling BJD had won Kandhamal and Aska Lok sabha seats.
Similarly, out of 35 Assembly seats, the ruling BJD had won 26 Assembly seats in the 2019 election followed by four each by both BJP and Congress and one seat by the CPM.
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