Voting began amid tight security on Wednesday for the Umerkote assembly seat in Nabarangpur district of Odisha, more than 500 km south of Bhubaneswar.
The polling began at 8 am and will close at 4 pm, officials said. The by-election for the seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes was necessitated following the murder of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Jagabandhu Majhi, allegedly by Maoists, on September 24. The by-election for the seat is having a triangular fight between BJD’s Subash Ganda, Congress’ Jatindranath Ganda and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Dharmu Ganda.
Police has arranged for elaborate arrangements for security as many parts of the constituency neighbouring Chhatisgarh have Maoist presence. Seventy of the total 162 booths have been identified as sensitive, officials said.