Puri, April 26: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Odisha’s Satyabadi Assembly seat has gone missing, two days after he allegedly damaged EVMs and beat up polling officer during the third phase of elections on Tuesday, reported The Indian Express. During the polling, Om Prakash Mishra also allegedly pulled out a firearm. Odisha Assembly Elections 2019 Schedule: Polling for All 147 Seats in four phases, Counting of Votes on May 23.

The police on Thursday launched a search operation to nab Mishra. Meanwhile, the ruling in Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) slammed the BJP over the incident. The BJD also raised questions on giving the ticket to Mishra. The Satyabadi Assembly seat is part of the Puri Lok Sabha seat. Odisha Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Schedule: Constituency-Wise Dates Of Voting And Results For General Elections.

The third phase of assembly elections in Odisha took place on April 23 along with the Lok Sabha elections 2019. Of the 147 constituencies, 41 assembly seats went for polls. The voting was also held in six parliamentary constituencies including Puri. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra contested from the Puri Lok Sabha seat. Odisha Lok Sabha, Assembly Elections 2019: Phase 3 Voting Ends.

In the first phase on April 11, 28 assembly seats went for polls, while in the second phase polling was held on 35 seats. In the 2014 assembly election, the BJD retained power by winning 117 seats in the 147-seat assembly. Meanwhile, the Congress bagged 16 seats, whereas, the BJP managed to win only 10 seats.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 26, 2019 10:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).