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Ahead of the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections, Odisha Chief Electoral Officer Nikunja Dhal on Thursday urged voters to "exercise their most important democratic right" on May 25.
Urging everyone to step out to vote, he said, "We are taking all steps to ensure that the voters have a pleasant experience. The weather will be hot and humid. Enough drinking water facilities will be provided. I appeal to all the voters including urban voters to come out in large numbers and exercise their most important democratic right." Campaigning for six Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha which will go to polls in the sixth phase will come to an end this evening. 42 Assembly constituencies coming under Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack Lok Sabha constituencies are also going for polls in the third phase of Assembly elections being held in the state simultaneously with the general elections. This phase is poised to witness significant electoral battles with many heavyweights including Union Minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP leaders Bhartruhari Mahtab, Aparajita Sarangi, Sambit Patra, BJD organisation general secretary Pranab Prakash Das. The Odisha Chief Electoral Officer said that on May 25, there will be voting at 10,551 polling stations and about 2000 model polling stations. 1500 polling stations will be managed by all women polling personnel and another 30 by PWD polling personnel. He further added, "We have taken all the steps to ensure that the voting is conducted peacefully. CAPF will be deployed in 2000 critical polling stations. The percentage of critical polling stations is above 20 per cent and in this phase of the election, we are deploying 121 companies of CAPF." He further highlighted that Odisha has voted very well in the fourth and fifth phases. The voter turnout on May 13 and May 20 was higher than the 2019 figures. Notably, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Saturday that a total of 889 candidates from eight States and Union Territories (UTs) will contest elections in 58 constituencies. The voting will begin at 7 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. (ANI)
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