In Odisha, polling came to an end in 10 Lok Sabha and 70 state Assembly constituencies this evening. About 58 percent polling has been recorded by 4 this afternoon. First phase polling was held in these constituencies spread over 19 of the 30 districts in the state.
According to chief electoral office sources, highest polling has been recorded in Angul district with 69 per cent, while Maoist-affected Malkangiri district recorded lowest 43.7 per cent so far.
Polling was disrupted in four booths at Mathili block in
Maoist-affected Malkangiri district after a group of miscreants set fire to the truck which was carrying the electronic voting machines to the polling booths. A group of miscreants also damaged the electronic voting machines at Badakaturu village of Guranthi panchayat in Gajapati district. Maoists also looted some electronic voting machines in Kotapad Assembly constituency. Polling, however, has been peaceful in other election areas of the state.
In Jharkhand, more than 50 percent of voting has been reported from four Lok Sabha constituencies when the polling closed at 4 PM. Voting was held peacefully for Koderma Chatra, Lohardaga and Palamu parliamentary constituencies.
The Election was monitored intensively and 49 thousand security forces were deployed for security. Of these, 45 thousand were deployed in polling booths numbering over seven thousands spread across 10 districts. 201 web cams were also deployed in sensitive booths to monitor the poll live by the Election Commission Officers.
In Bihar, about 51 percent polling was recorded in all the six Parliamentary constituencies today. Brisk polling was reported all over. The highest polling has been recorded from Gaya and the lowest in Nawada Lok Sabha seat.