All arrangements made for smooth conduct of Nuapada bypoll: DEO

Nuapada (Odisha), Nov 10 (PTI) Nuapada Collector and District Election Officer (DEO) Madusudan Dash on Monday said all arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of polling for the bypoll on November 11.

He said that two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters have been kept ready to pick up and drop polling officials in hilly terrains and Naxal-affected regions of the Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary area.

The DEO said all the polling parties have started leaving for the 358 booths on Monday.

"For the Nuapada Assembly by-election, all polling parties will travel to the polling stations today with EVM machines and all necessary equipment. For this, the district administration has made all the necessary preparations in a systematic manner," the Collector and DM Nuapada said in a post on X.

As many as 47 polling stations have been identified as Naxal-hit, where voting will be held from 7 am to 5 pm, while in other booths the people can exercise their franchise from 7 am to 5 pm on Tuesday, he said.

The DEO said the entire Nuapada assembly constituency has been put under a thick security blanket, and 14 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed for the bypoll.

Apart from the deployment of the central forces, 35 mobile patrolling parties are on alert to immediately respond to allegations of any irregularity in the polling booths. Seven quick response teams (QRT) will also be engaged to initiate action in case of an emergency, the official said.

Das said each booth will have six personnel, one presiding officer, three polling officers and one micro-observer.

Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R S Gopalan said that the silence period is in force for the Nuapada bypoll during which no campaigning or any other political activity is allowed.

He said that all outsiders have left the Nuapada assembly segment as the silence period began on Sunday evening.

Gopalan said all political parties, their candidates, media and officials have been informed regarding the do's and don'ts during the silence period in accordance with the guidelines of the Election Commission.

The CEO said the polling parties are expected to reach all the polling booths before sunset on Monday.

"I am hopeful of a peaceful and orderly voting process in Nuapada", Gopalan added.

The Nuapada bypoll was necessitated following the death of sitting BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8. PTI AAM AAM RG