Odisha: Dhamnagar records 58.5% polling by 5pm

BHUBANESWAR: A voter turnout of 58.5% was recorded in the byelection for Dhamnagar assembly seat by 5 pm on Thursday. The voting remained largely peaceful barring some stray incidents of violence.
Chief electoral officer SK Lohani said the final voting figures may substantially go up because large number of people were still standing in queues across many booths. Voters who reached the booths by 6 pm will be allowed to vote, he said.
In 2019 assembly election, Dhamnagar had recorded around 72% polling. The turnout this time may be higher, Lohani said.
Lohani said the election went off peacefully with no violence in any booth. Some poll related incidents were reported but none of those were inside any booth, he said. One Sushant Kumar (32), a native of Guamal village under Tihidi block sustained injuries after being attacked by some political rivals, he said.
Accusations and counteraccusations of poll code violations continued between the BJP and the BJD till last moment of the high stakes poll. The BJP submitted a memorandum to the CEO accusing the BJD of circulating a fake exit poll survey that shows the regional party will win the poll. The BJD denied the allegation.
A polling officer Natabar Munda, who had been hospitalized for his illness on Wednesday evening, died on Thursday. Munda worked as a teacher in a primary school in Olanga village in Bhadrak district. Counting of the votes is scheduled on Sunday.