BHUBANESWAR: Amid a consistent trend of poor voter turnout, Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency, of which the state capital is a part, will go to polls on Saturday with 29,000 less electors.
As many as 16.68 lakh voters will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 12 Lok Sabha and 75 Assembly candidates in the constituency. The total number of electors of the constituency in the previous General Elections in 2019 was approximately 16.97 lakh.
However, with voting percentage in the past elections not being so encouraging, all eyes will be on the participation of slum voters and whether the capital city will be able to defy the previous polling trend this time.
“We have taken a slew of measures to improve voting percentage in Bhubaneswar region, particularly in the three Assembly seats - Bhubaneswar North, Bhubaneswar Central and Ekamra Bhubaneswar - where traditionally the turnout has been less than 50 per cent. Any figure beyond 60 per cent will be considered a huge success,” said a senior official from the Khurda district election office.
District election officer Chanchal Rana said all measures have been put in place with adequate security measures to ensure free, fair and impartial voting in Bhubaneswar constituency and Chilika Assembly segment which falls under jurisdiction of Khurda. The district administration has identified 306 critical polling stations in Khurda district of which 257 are in Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency.
Around 32 critical polling stations are in Bhubaneswar Central Assembly segment, while 27 are in Bhubaneswar North and 29 in Ekamra Bhubaneswar. This apart, 27 polling stations including four each in Bhubaneswar Central and North have been identified as vulnerable. In order to secure peaceful voting sources said at least 12 central armed police force (CAPF) companies will be deployed in the voting stations.
The administration has also set up 200 all-women managed poling stations in Bhubaneswar central Assembly seat, 60 in Bhubaneswar North and 71 in Bhubaneswar Ekamra. Similar booths have also been set up in other Assembly seats while model polling stations have also been set up across the Lok Sabha constituency to facilitate smooth voting. For voters’ convenience, the district administration has popularised Mo Booth application which will help electors find the location and route to their polling station and check real-time queue status of their booth on polling day, said officials. This is expected to help bring in more voters to the polling station, they said.
However, with officials attributing urban and intellectual apathy to be the main reasons for low voter turnout in the previous elections, experts said slum voters will continue to play a key role in deciding the fate of candidates. Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation sources said the city has a total of 439 slums scattered over Bhubaneswar-Central, Bhubaneswar North and Ekamra Bhubaneswar Assembly segments.
The combined population of these settlements has been estimated to be around around 3.01 lakh of which the electors percentage will be in the range of 60 to 65 per cent. It will be interesting to see who the slum dwellers vote for and whether the state capital is able to defy its voting trend, said a political expert and former professor of Utkal University.
Poll ready
16.68 lakh voters to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 12 Lok Sabha and 75 Assembly candidates.
257 critical booths identified in Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency 27 polling stations identified as vulnerable
200 all-women polling stations set up in Bhubaneswar central Assembly seat