Rejecting the ruling BJD`s claim of securing 105 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee today claimed its candidates will win in 70 Assembly segments and in at least 10 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Three Congress workers were arrested from Aul area of Odisha`s Kendrapara district on Sunday in connection with post-poll violence that left a man dead and four injured even as prohibitory orders remained in force in the district.
Accusing ruling BJD of misusing government machinery and pumping huge money during elections in Odisha, senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra today demanded a thorough probe by the Election Commission into the matter and role of officials in the whole process.
Prohibitory orders were clamped in Odisha`s Kendrapada district after a Biju Janata Dal supporter was killed and several injured as post-poll violence rocked the region, an official said.
The ruling BJD on Friday claimed to secure at least 105 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly and 17 of the total 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
A mob on Friday manhandled senior government officials in Odisha`s Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency where elections were held yesterday, alleging attempts to tamper votes as an EVM-loaded vehicle was spotted in front of an officer`s residence.
Total voter turn-out in the two-phased simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha was 74 percent against 65.3 percent polling in last general elections in 2009.
Women voters outnumbered their male counterparts in tribal dominated Kandhamal and Gajapati districts which went to the polls on April 10.
Strains seem to have appeared in the alliance between BJP and TDP in Andhra Pradesh over the choice of certain candidates for Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the state.
Though there was peaceful repolling in 15 booths in Maoist-hit Chitrakonda Assembly seat in Odisha`s Malkangiri district on Thursday, no votes were cast in eight polling stations mostly due to fear.
The BJP on Thursday claimed the outcome of Odisha poll results will surprise both the ruling BJD and the opposition Congress.
Manipur recorded the highest turnout of 62 percent while Jharkhand recorded the lowest percentage of 28.07 voters exercising their franchise till 2 pm in five states in eastern India that went to polls.
An election agent of opposition Congress party was arrested on charge of damaging EVM in booth-193 of Mulasahi village under Aul Assembly segment in Kendrapara district.
70 percent of the electorate exercised their franchise for 11 Lok Sabha and 77 Assembly seats in Odisha where second and last phase of polls passed off peacefully barring some stray incidents on Thursday.
The EC will issue show cause notices to the ruling BJD and opposition BJP in Odisha for publishing advertisements in newspapers after the end of the campaign for the second and last phase of polls, in violation of the model code.
About 16 million voters will decide the political fate of candidates for the 11 Lok Sabha and 747 aspirants for the 77 Assembly seats in the final phase of polling on Thursday in Odisha, with the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) hoping to romp home for the fourth straight term.
Confident of forming government for the fourth-time in a row in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday called off his 21-day high-voltage electioneering at the state capital here through a road-show.
The Congress candidate in Ganjam district`s Chikiti assembly segment Manoranjan Dyansamantara today alleged that the ruling BJD supporters indulged in rigging of votes in at least 16 places under Chikiti block during the first phase of election held on April 10.