Bhubaneswar, Dec 5 (PTI) Nearly 76 per cent of 2.57 lakh voters on Monday exercised their franchise till 5 pm in the by-poll to Odisha’s Padampur assembly constituency, an Election Commission official said.
The voting, which began at 7 am, continued beyond the scheduled close at 4 pm as several people were in queue in 89 of the 319 polling stations, he said.
The boundary gates of all the booths, however, were closed at 4 pm, the official said.
“There was no report of any untoward incident in the entire Padampur assembly constituency during the voting process,” Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S K Lohani said.
A total of 2.57 lakh voters, including 12 members of the transgender community, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-poll.
Around 1,400 police personnel and nine companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed for the by-election, the official said.
There are 10 candidates in the fray for the by-poll.
The ruling BJD fielded Barsha Singh Bariha, the daughter of Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha whose death necessitated the by-election, while the opposition BJP’s nominee is the former MLA and party’s Krushak Morcha president Pradip Purohit.
Congress candidate Satya Bhusan Sahu has earlier won the seat three times.
Votes will be counted on December 8. PTI AAM RBT RBT
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