Bhubaneswar: Odisha, which is facing simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections, will vote in four stages for the first time. Last time, in 2014, the simultaneous elections were held in 2 stages.
The polling will be held in four phases in the state on11, 18, 23 and 29 April in Odisha, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar said. He said that polling will be held in four Lok Sabha segments and 28 assembly seats on April 11 in first phase.
In second phase on 18 April voting in five Lok Sabha segments and 35 assembly seats under its jurisdiction will be taken up.
Similarly the third and fourth phase of polling will be held on April 23 and April 29 when voters in six Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly segments.
Mr.Kumar said model code of conduct has come into force immediately with announcement of poll dates.
He said notification for the first phase will be made on 18 March and 19 March 19, date for the second phase notification will be issued. Similarly, notification for third and fourth phase will be made on 28 March and 2 April respectively.
The counting of votes will be done on 23 May for all the seats. Polling will be held in Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Berhampur and Koraput Lok Sabha segments and assembly seats under their jurisdiction on 11 April on first phase. In second phase polling will be held in Bargarh, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Aska Lok Sabha seats and assembly segments under them will franchise their rights in second phase on 18 April, he said .
Similarly, the third phase of polling will be held in Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri and Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha segments and assembly constituencies under them on 23 April. The fourth and last phase of voting will be held in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seat and Assembly constituencies under them on 29 April.
While polling were held in two phases in 2014 elections, this time it would be in four phases. Mr.Kumar said adequate security arrangement will be made in Left wing Extremist (LWE) affected areas of the State where simultaneously polling will be held. The polling in other Maoist affected regions of adjoining states will also be held on the same date. The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will be deployed in the Maoist hit areas in Odisha and adjoining states for smooth conduct of polling.