Lok Sabha polls 2014: Odisha’s first phase of polling registers 59% turnout

BHUBANESHWAR: Despite scorching temperatures, Odisha clocked a 59% voter turnout in the first phase of polling, which will decide the fate of the chief minister Naveeen Patnaik , former hockey captain Dilip Tirkey and actor and MP Siddhanta Mohapatra.

The first phase covered 10 Lok Sabha and 70 assembly constituencies across the southern and western parts of the state, according to the election commission’s office in Bhubaneshwar. Fifty-four constituencies were declared `sensitive’ due to Maoist presence and voting closed at 4.00 p.m.

There were reports that left-wing extremists set fire to a truck carrying EVMs in the southern district of Malkhangiri and also walked away with EVMs from a polling station in Kotpad. Information officer, Lalatendu Mahapatra, however, denied the reports.

In the first phase most of the traditional Congress strongholds were covered.

Patnaik, who in 2009 won the Hinjili seat within the Aska constituency with a margin 61, 000 votes, may win this time too. But the prospects of his party winning have become hard to predict.

Despite naxal threat, southern districts such as Nabaragpur (59%) and Narayanpatna (63%) witnessed a good turnout.