With ‘Sakhi booths’, guidelines to tackle heatwave, Odisha gears up for simultaneous Lok Sabha & Assembly polls

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], May 9 (ANI): Special all women booths known as ‘Sakhi booths’ have been prepared for the convenience of women voters and sufficient arrangements have been done to tackle heat wave conditions in Ganjam district of Odisha ahead of the Assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections that will be held simultenously in Odisha, according to district Collector.

Ganjam Collector and District Magistrate Dibya Jyoti Parida said, “We are also developing many model polling stations. So, all the criteria that are required have been met. We are also having ‘Sakhi booths’ – all women booths. Those officials have been trained properly and all the arrangements which are required in the special booths have been covered.”

He further said that sufficient arrangements will be available as a precautionary measure to tackle heat wave conditions.

“We have a team of doctors, kits and are also giving guidelines to all voters regarding all precautions that they need to take. Every polling team will have a sufficient number of kits like ORS and all other medicines which are required if such kind of situation arises. Apart from that, we have also made heatstroke rooms in our CHCs, PHCs, and also at polling stations where rooms are available so that we can do heatwave management properly. Paramedics will be mobilised during the polling period,” he said.

Odisha will hold Assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections in four phases from May 13 to June 1, with vote counting scheduled for June 4.

In the 2019 Assembly election, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won 112 out of 146 seats, while Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won 23 seats and Congress won 9.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won the majority of seats in the state, while the BJP and the Congress brought up the rear. The BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8, and the Congress bagged just a lone seat.