Odisha: Over 2.29 lakh voters to decide fate of Pipili in bypoll today

BHUBANESWAR: Nearly a year after the death of sitting MLA Pradeep Maharathy, around 2.29 lakh voters of the Pipili assembly constituency are set to elect a new MLA through the byelection scheduled to be held on Thursday.
The administration has made the necessary arrangements for the smooth conduct of the bypolls amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which was postponed thrice earlier owing to various reasons. The voting will start at 7am and continue until 6pm in the 348 polling stations of the constituency.
District collector (Puri) Samarth Verma, SP Kanwar Vishal Singh and senior officials visited various booths of the Pipili and Delang area on Wednesday to review the preparedness and other arrangements as polling officials with EVMs, VVPATs and other materials have already reached the booths.
Nearly 2,200 polling personnel and 2,000 security personnel, including three companies of the Border Security Force, have been engaged by the administration for the free, fair and smooth conduct of the byelection.
“Adequate arrangements have been made for a free and fair poll. We are taking all steps to ensure a Covid-safe election as directed by the Election Commission of India,” chief electoral officer SK Lohani said.
The thermal scanning of the voters will be done while those with a high temperature will be allowed to cast their vote in the last one hour with additional safety protocols.
Additional staff are being deployed to ensure strict compliance of the Covid protocols such as maintaining physical distance while standing in queues, wearing masks and washing hands frequently.
Though 10 candidates are in the fray for the byelection, the fight is mainly among the candidates of three major political parties — BJD’s Rudra Pratap Maharathy, BJP’s Ashrit Pattanayak and Congress’s Bishwokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra.
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