Bhubaneswar, Dec 5 : About 80.05 percent of voters exercised their franchise in the by-poll to the Padampur Assembly seat in Odisha on Monday, State Chief Electoral Office sources said.
The by-election was necessitated following the demise of the sitting BJD MLA Bijaya Ranjan Singh Bariha.
The by-election by and large remained peaceful, official sources said.
Although ten candidates are in the fray, the battle for ballots is mostly confined to candidates of three major political parties- the ruling BJD, the BJP and the Congress.
The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.
The authorities have deployed nine companies of para-military forces and 41 platoons of state police forces to maintain law and order situation during the polling.-
The Bargarh SP said the border with Chhattisgarh has been sealed and security was tightened in the Maoist-infested areas in the constituency.
The BJD has fielded Barsha Singh Bariha, daughter of the deceased legislator Bijaya ranjan Singh Bariha.
On the other hand, both the BJP and the Congress have fielded former MLA Predeep Purohoit and Satya Bhusan Sahu respectively who have won the Assembly seat in the past.