Odisha's Chief Electoral Officer NB Dhal said the Election Commission will deploy 121 companies of CAPF for the upcoming phase of polling in the state.

The EC said there is an enhanced focus on informing, motivating, and facilitating voters in the remaining three phases of the parliamentary polls and state chief electoral officers have been asked to step up measures. 

Officials say additional 2,000 buses from Hyderabad are plying to facilitate voters to reach their destinations.

Twenty-one of the 28 villages of the picturesque Kotia cluster are claimed by both states and a case over the dispute has been pending with the Supreme Court since 1968.

In exact figures, the total number of voters in the southern state are 4,14,01,887, who include 2.02 crore male voters, 2.1 crore female voters, 3,421 third gender voters and 68,185 service electors.

“Soon we will be doing the first band play, hopefully in Panchkula. The band will perform and election-theme music will be played," he said. 

Surge of voters flooded polling booths despite recent case of violence.

The hot air balloon, put up at a height of 100 feet in Chaibasa, the district headquarters, is part of a massive campaign programme, also launched in far-flung areas to encourage voters to exercise their franchise.

This rule explains the lesser-known option for voters to refrain from voting even after arriving at the polling booth.

The Lok Sabha and the assembly elections will be held in four phases between May 13 and June 1. There will be 37,809 polling stations, including 33,429 in rural areas, in the state, the election official said.

"I prayed for the progress of Punjab," said CM Mann.

According to the latest data from the Election Commission, the state has 3.73 crore women voters, 12 lakh less than the number of registered male voters at 3.85 crore. However, there has been a notable increase in the registration of fresh women voters, with their numbers growing by 9.8 per cent between 2019 and 2024.