Bhubaneswar: Voting for the Nuapada Assembly constituency by-election concluded peacefully today, with a voter turnout of 75.37% recorded till 5 pm. The voting, which began at 7 am, ended at 5 pm, although voters inside the booth premises are still casting their ballots in some areas, particularly in the Maoist-dominated Sunabeda Sanctuary.
The administration faced a significant challenge in ensuring peaceful voting in Sunabeda, where eight booths were set up in a remote and Maoist-dominated area. To address the security concerns, polling staff were airlifted to these locations, and voting was completed by 4 pm. The staff were then transported back to Nuapada in a special Air Force chopper.
The voting process was marked by tight security arrangements, with 14 companies of the central armed police forces deployed across the constituency. The EVMs have been submitted to the strongroom, and counting is scheduled for November 14.
The by-election is a three-cornered contest between BJP’s Jay Dholakia, BJD’s Snehangini Chhuria, and Congress’s Ghasiram Majhi. The outcome is expected to be a barometer of the political sentiment in Odisha
