Bhubaneswar: The fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections will be held in four parliamentary constituencies in Odisha. Four Odisha Lok Sabha seats will go to polls on May 13, the first phase in the state and the fourth across the country. Briefing the media, State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Nikunja Bihari Dhal said Berhampur, Koraput, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituencies and 28 Assembly seats coming under the parliamentary segments will go to polls on May 13, the nomination process began on Thursday.
State Chief Electoral Officer Nikunj Bihari Dhal said that the nomination process started on April 18 and April 25 will be the last day for filing of nominations. Nominations will be verified on April 26 while the withdrawal date is fixed on April 29. He pointed out that Koraput, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Berhampur parliamentary constituencies have the highest number of women voters.
Women voters outnumber men
The number of women voters is 31 lakh 87 thousand 771. The number of male voters is 30 lakh 96 thousand 243. The total number of voters is 62 lakh 84 thousand 649. The number of transgender voters is 635. In four parliamentary constituencies, the proportion of voters aged 18 to 19 is 2.78 per cent and 20 to 29 is 23.34 per cent.
Polling stations: There are 7,289 polling stations in Koraput, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Berhampur parliamentary constituencies. In all, 587 complaints were received in the C-Vigil app and 582 were resolved.
C-Vigil app: C-Vigil app has been set up to file election-related complaints. There have been 3,873 complaints against the C-Vigil app in the state. In all, 3,854 have been solved till Wednesday. We resolved 1,850 complaints within 100 minutes. There are 3,089 facts in the allegations. More complaints have been received especially from Puri, Khurda, Cuttack and Jajpur. Over 2,700 complaints have been received especially regarding posters and banners. In all, 587 complaints were received in the four parliamentary constituencies, out of which 582 complaints were resolved.
The CEO said different enforcement agencies seized cash, liquor, drugs and other items worth Rs 118. 65 crore in the state during the pre-election period from March 1 till date. He said police confiscated cash, narcotics and liquor totalling Rs 61.6 crore, while the state excise department seized narcotics worth Rs 30 crore.
Additionally, the state GST department seized articles worth Rs 17 crore, the Department of Revenue and Intelligence seized items worth Rs 6.4 crore and the transport department seized items worth Rs 1.19 crore. The income tax department recovered Rs 73 lakhs and the forest department recovered Rs 95 lakhs, he pointed out.
Voting time reduced in the Maoist area: Voting normally starts at 7 am and continues till 6 pm. In the first phase, voting time has been changed in some regions. Voting hours have been changed or shortened for the safety of voters in the Maoist area.
Voting will be completed at 4 pm in 68 polling stations in two constituencies of Nuapada district. As many as 14 auxiliary polling stations have also been set up at different places where more than 1,500 voters are available to cast their votes.
Ten companies of BSF and five companies of CISF have been deployed for security. Leaflets will be distributed door-to-door to alert voters. Poll officials have been told to keep snacks and drinking water in all the booths. Similarly, ambulance facilities have also been provided at the polling booths.
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