70 per cent voter turnout in Odisha

Brisk polling was recorded in Odisha Thursday with around 70 per cent of the over 60 lakh electorate casting their votes in four Lok Sabha and 28 Assembly constituencies.

No untoward incident was reported from any part of the state and polling for the first of four-phase of Odisha elections was undertaken peacefully, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar said.

However, there were reports of poll boycott by villagers in some places over local issues, while zero polling was recorded in some Maoist-hit areas of Malkangiri district, he said. "Around half-a-dozen booths in Chitrakonda area of Malkangiri recorded "zero polling," the CEO said.

In Kalimela block of Malkangiri district, a man, who was waiting to vote outside a booth, collapsed and died, apparently due to scorching heat, a police officer said.

The man has been identified as Bhima Kabasi (45) of MPV-74 village in the district, he added.

As per reports received from the constituencies, approximately 70 per ...