By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: About 68.40% voter turnout reported from Pipili bye polls. The voting was started in all 348 booths of the constituency at 7 am and continued till 6 pm under a security blanket, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), SK Lohani.The final polling per cent will be known Friday morning, after all presiding officers return to the headquarters, he said.
The CEO said mock polling was held in the 348 booths before voting began at 7 am. Polling in some booths, however, got delayed due to technical glitches in the electronic voting machines, officials said.
The fate of 10 candidates including the ruling BJD’s Rudrapratap Maharathy, Ashrit Pattnaik of the BJP and Congress nominee Bishwokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra have been sealed in the EVMs. All of them have cast votes in their respective polling booths. The fate of these candidates will be known October 3, the counting day.
The by-poll is being held following the death of sitting BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy, was initially scheduled for April 17 this year. However, it was countermanded in the aftermath of the death of Congress candidate Ajit Mangaraj on April 14 due to Covid-19.
Following the death of Mangaraj, the polling date was fixed on May 13, which was again rescheduled to May 16 in view of the Eid-ul-Fitr, a festival of Muslims.
