Nabarangpur: About 30 per cent
of the electorate exercised their franchise by noon on Wednesday for
by-election in Umerkote assembly constituency of Odisha's
Maoist-infested Nabarangpur district.
Amidst tight security, polling was in progress in a
peaceful manner at 162 booths of which 70 have been identified
as sensitive and 67 as hyper-sensitive, official sources said.
"Voting is on peacefully and no untoward incident has
been reported anywhere in the assembly segment where an
estimated 1,65,037 voters are eligible to vote," said a senior
official.
The contesting candidates in the tribal-dominated
segment are Dharmu Gond of BJP, Subas Gond of BJD and Jatindra
Gond of Congress Party.
Armed police personnel in strength and central para
military force have been deployed in various places in and
around the constituency, bordering Chhattisgarh.
Of the 32 gram panchayats in the constituency 15 have
Maoist pockets with security men keeping vigil on polling
booths.
The Central Para Military Force personnel have been
deployed in border entry points of the constituency and also
stationed at strategic locations.
Altogether 750 polling personnel and 17 sectoral
officers have been deployed in the constituency for polling.
Five executive magistrates have also been put on duty, sources
said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 30, 2011, 10:06