Athagarh: A major group clash will be witnessed in polling booth in Odisha, said reports in this regard on Saturday. According to reports, a major clash was experienced between BJP and BJD workers while voting in a booth in Athagarh.
There were instances of vandalism in the clash witnessed in polling booth, with chairs being thrown across the waiting area. As many as four people have been injured from both sides. One platoon police force with SDPO and Athagarh police have reached the spot.
Detailed reports awaited in this regard.
The voting for the third phase elections in Odisha has already begun for six Lok Sabha seats and 42 assembly seats.
During this phase, polling is being held in 6 LS constituencies including Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri and Bhubaneswar along with 42 assembly constituencies under them.
A total of 94.48 lakh voters will decide the fate of 447 candidates (64 MP and 383 MLA) on May 25 in the sixth phase of the concurrent general election-2024.
A total of 94,41,797 voters including 48,26, 375 male voters and 46,14,134 female will cast their franchises on Saturday and will decide the fates of 64 MP and 383 MLA candidates on May 25.
As many as 10,515 polling stations and 36 additional polling stations for this phase, with approximately 896 voters per polling station have been set up. About 1500 polling stations will be fully managed by women staff and 30 will be fully handled by specially-abled staff.
Meanwhile, to commence the polling peacefully, a total of 35,000 state police and paramilitary security personnel has been deployed. Besides, 121 companies of Paramilitary Forces, 106 platoons of Odisha Armed Police and 19,865 civil police forces have been deployed for free and fair elections in Odisha.
Moreover, 43 Additional SPs, 95 DSPs, 238 inspectors, 2160 SIs, 10, 212 armed and unarmed Constables and Havildars, 7,117 Home Guards and Grama Rakhis have been deployed for the smooth polling.
The DGP Arun Kumar Sarangi said that 5 young IPS officers of ASP rank in Sambalpur, Khordha, Keonjhar and Cuttack have been mobilized at sensitive booths. A total of 84 DSPs, two each for one assembly segment, have been deployed to maintain law and order, he added.
