Mayurbjanj, a tribals-dominated bordering district, which has nine Assembly seats in all, will go to polls in two phases.
This is so because its Assembly segments are shared by three Loksabha Constituencies, namely Mayurbhanj, Baleswar and Keonjhar.
While its Karanjia MLA seat comes under Keonjhar Parliamentary Constituency, Badsahi is under Baleswar Constituency. All other Assembly seats, namely Baripada, Morada, Udala, Badsahi, Bangriposi, Rairangpur and Jashipur together form the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha Constituency.
Thus, while Karanjia, along with six other Assembly segments of Keonjhar LS seat will go to polls on April 23 in phase 3, all the seven Assembly segments of Mayurbhanj LS seat, along with Badsahi Assembly segment of Baleswar LS seat will have its voting on April 29 in phase 4. Therefore, while the date of notification, the last date of filing of nominations, the date of scrutiny and the declaration of final list of candidates for Karanjia are March 28, April 4, April 5 and April 8 respectively, the same for all other Assembly seats of Mayurbhanj district and for Mayurbhanj LS seat are April 2, April 9, April 10 and April 13, respectively.
This was announced here on Monday by district Collector Vineet Bharadwaj. Addressing a Press conference, he told that more than 17 lakh voters are going to exercise their franchise in the district this time. There will be 2,364 booths in the district.
He also appealed to all concerned to abide by the model code of conduct and ensure a smooth, free and fair poll.
The administration will leave no stone unturned to make the elections hassle-free, he assured.