Bhubaneswar, May 29 (PTI) The high-decibel campaign for May 31 by-polls to Brajrajnagar assembly segment in Odisha's Jharsuguda district came to an end on Sunday, with the chief electoral officer (CEO) stating that all arrangements were in place for carrying out free and fair voting.

The by-election was necessitated following the demise of BJD MLA Kishore Mohanty in December last year.

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Although 11 candidates are in the fray, the constituency is set to witness a triangular contest among the ruling BJD, the opposition BJP and the Congress.

The three parties have campaigned vigorously for their respective candidates.

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Several star campaigners had hit the roads over the past few days to seek votes from people, including Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Bisheswar Tudu for BJP nominee Radharani Panda, and AICC general secretary in-charge of Odisha, A Chellakumar, for Congress candidate Kishore Patel.

At least eight ministers and 30 MLAs of the BJD have campaigned for Alaka Mohanty, wife of the deceased legislator.

Addressing a press meet here, CEO S K Lohani said as many as 2,14,261 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the constituency, where polling would be held from 7 am to 6 pm. Counting of votes will take place on June 3.

"All preparations including special arrangements for PwDs (persons with disabilities) and Braille ballot papers for the visually challenged have been made," Lohani said.

Polling will be held in 279 booths – five of which would be supervised by women officers -- with adherence to COVID-19 norms, he stated.

"Model booths will be set up at 30 places with ramp facilities, temporary shed and separate queues. Volunteers will also be deployed to carry people with disabilities (PwDs) and elderly persons on wheelchair," the CEO explained.

Web-casting arrangements have been made in 145 booths, he said.

"As many as 1,000 state police personnel and three companies of the central armed forces have been deployed at different booths to maintain law and order. Sixty booths have been identified as 'sensitive',” he said.

A total of 1,228 officers have been engaged in polling duty, Lohani added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)