Bhubaneswar: Polling has begun for the Bijepur Assembly constituency by-polls in Odisha’s Bargarh District. About 11 percent voters have cast their votes till 9 am in the morning and serpentine queues were seen in some of the polling booths.
The seat fell vacant after Chief Minister, who won from two seats – Hinjili and Bijepur, retained the Hinjili constituency. BJD’s former MLA Rita Sahu is fighting BJP’s Sanat Gadtia and Congress’ Dilip Panda.
As many as 2.32 lakh voters will exercise their franchise which includes 1.20 lakh male and 1.12 lakh female voters. 285 polling booths have been set up among which 129 have been identified as critical. The security arrangements have been tightened across the district.