Bhubaneswar: The Balangir Lok Sabha constituency, comprising five assembly seats in Balangir district and two in Subarnapur, has the highest number of eligible voters out of all the 21 Parliamentary seats in the state. It has 17 lakh voters, while the Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituency has the lowest — 10.67 lakh.The neighbouring western Odisha districts of Subarnapur and Balangir will go to the polls in the second phase on April 18.The Election Commission (EC) had set up 2,086 booths in Balangir LS seat in 2014 because of its size. This time, the number of booths has been reduced to 1,547 after rationalization.Several areas in the constituency are affected by the Maoist movement; hence, the EC has declared 256 booths ‘vulnerable’. Of them, 196 booths, located in strongholds of the Maoists, are ‘hypersensitive’. Six blocks of the district are believed to be rebel-hit. The population of these blocks is around 3.50 lakh, with nearly 2 lakh voters eligible to vote. Officials said micro-observers would be deployed at the booths located in the Maoist-hit areas.Officials said the LS segment’s Turekela, Khaprakhol, Patnagarh, Kantabanji, Bangomunda and Belpada blocks have the most number of ‘hypersensitive’ booths. In 2011, a BJD leader, Raj Kishor Panda, who was the nominee of Balangir MP Kalikesh Singhdeo, was shot dead by the Maoists in his home in Telenpali village in Khaprakhol block. In 2012, BJP leader K V Singhdeo had received two threat calls from suspected rebels.Balangir collector Arindam Dakua said 11,140 polling personnel would join poll duty. “We will engage 321 women personnel in the polling process but their duties will be limited to urban areas. Besides, 152 sector officers will be deployed for supervision,” he said.For election management, the administration has requisitioned 127 buses, seven trucks, 100 auto-rickshaws and 30 motorcycles.

Stay updated with all the Latest Bhubaneswar headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.