Polling begins in Kandhamal

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Oct 15: Polling began in Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat in Odisha at 7 am this morning where a bye-election is being held following the death of Biju Janata Dal MP Hemendra Chandra Singh on September 5.A total of 11,41,737 voters, including 5,60,651 females voters, were to exercise their franchise in the seven Assembly segments under Kandhamal Parliamentary constituency which is spread over four districts.There are seven candidates in fray though a triangular contest is taking place with BJD nominee Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh, Congress candidate Abhimanyu Behera and BJP nominee Rudra Madhab Ray as main contenders.According to official sources here, polling started peacefully in all 1497 booths of the constituency amid tight security.Polling will end at 4 pm.No untoward incident was reported from any booth in the initial two hours of polling.The counting of the votes polled will be done on October 19.