845 in fray for 2nd phase polls

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Bhubaneswar: As many as 845 candidates will try their luck in the second phase polls scheduled to be held on April 17, covering 11 Lok Sabha seats and 77 Assembly constituencies in the state.

Informing this to media, Odisha chief electoral officer Mona Sharma said, “After the rejection of candidature of four during scrutiny and withdrawal of three, a total of 98 candidates will vie for 11 LS seats. A total of 105 candidates had filed nominations.”

The official stated that for the 77 Assembly segments, which are going to polls on the same day, a total of 747 candidates will be in poll fray.

During the scrutiny of papers, nominations of 48 were rejected on several grounds while 37 withdrew to stay out of the race.

Sharma informed that a set of two electronic voting machines (EVMs) each will be placed in three Assembly constituencies in the second phase polls, as the number of candidates in fray in these segments is more than 16.

“Since an EVM can accommodate names of 16 candidates including one NOTA (none of the above) option, there will be two EVMs at all the polling stations in Morada, Rairangpur, (both in Mayurbhanj dist) and Bhubaneswar Ekamra.

While Morada Assembly seat has a record number of 24 candidates, Rairangpur and Bhubaneswar Ekamra have 17 and 20 aspirants each, she stated.

For the 70 Assembly constituencies which are going to polls in the first phase on April 10, a total of 668 candidates are in fray.

In the first phase, 98 candidates are contesting from 10 Lok Sabha constituencies.