Polling for the first phase of simulteneous elections in Orissa involving 11 Lok Sabha and 77 assembly constituencies began at 7.00 am today amidst tight security.
About 1.29 crore voters would cast their votes in the first phase in 19 of the state's 30 districts to decide the fate of 54 candidates in the Lok Sabha and 417 in the assembly.
90,000 polling personnel were engaged to conduct the polling in 13,741 booths in the Western and Southern parts of the state of which 6,141 booths had been identified as sensitive.
The main contest would be between the ruling BJD-BJP coalition and the Congress-led five party alliance.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful polling in the naxalite-infested districts including Malkangiri, Koraput, Gaja