75.68% of voters turned out for the first phase of elections in Odisha on May 13, according to the CEO.

The Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha, NB Dhal, announced on Wednesday that the voter turnout for the first phase of polling in four Lok Sabha seats and 28 Assembly segments on May 13 was an impressive 75.68 per cent. He also mentioned that this number might increase even more once the postal votes are received.

Among the four Lok Sabha seats, Nabarangpur recorded the highest voter turnout of 82.16 per cent. This was followed by Kalahandi, Koraput, and Berhampur. It is worth noting that both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are taking place simultaneously in Odisha.

In a recent report, it was revealed that Nabarangpur district, which has four Assembly segments under the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat, recorded an even more impressive voter turnout of over 84.57 per cent. This surpassed the district's previous record of approximately 80 per cent, which was set in 2019.

District Election Officer-cum-Collector Kamal Lochan Mishra attributed this high turnout to the extensive voter awareness campaigns that were conducted under the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation initiative. He stated, "We undertook several voter awareness programmes to encourage more people to vote, and it's heartening to see that our efforts paid off with nearly 85 per cent polling in the district."

Among the four Assembly segments, Nabarangpur had the highest polling percentage at 85.61, followed by Dabugaon at 85.20 per cent, Jharigaon at 84.22 per cent, and Umerkote at 83.05 per cent. The Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituency also saw a significant increase in voter participation, with an 82.16 per cent turnout compared to 79.52 per cent in 2019.

Political candidates from various parties expressed their optimism about the impact of this high voter turnout on their campaigns. Bhujabal Majhi, the Congress candidate for the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat, stated, "The high turnout of voters shows the people's dissatisfaction towards the ruling BJD in the state and BJP in the Centre. I am confident that the people have voted for Congress." Similarly, Pradeep Majhi, the BJD candidate for the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat, credited the regional party's effective governance under the Nabarangpur Parliamentary segment for the high turnout.

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