Odisha: Political bigwigs, celebrities get inked

BHUBANESWAR: Several political bigwigs and celebrities turned up at their respective booths on Tuesday to cast their votes in the third phase of elections held in high-profile constituencies such as Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri.
Appealing to the people to not give polls a miss, the celebrities posted selfies flaunting their inked fingers on social media.Political bigwigs including chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP’s Kendrapada LS candidate Baijayant Panda, state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik, Puri MP Pinaki Mishra, BJD’s Khandapada assembly candidate and Rajya Sabha MP Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, among others, exercised their franchise on the day. Naveen tweeted, “Happy to cast my vote in Bhubaneswar and participate in the biggest festival of democracy. Urge all to come out to cast their votes in large numbers for a stronger Odisha.”
Candidates such as Aparajita Sarangi, Arup Mohan Patnaik, Prakash Mishra, Achyuta Samanta who are trying their luck in the election for the first time also cast their votes. Actor-turned-politicians such as Anubhav Mohanty and Aparajita Mohanty also voted on Tuesday.
Bureaucrats such as private secretary to the chief minister, V K Pandiyan, along with wife Sujata Kartikeyan, who is also a senior IAS officer, went to Unit-6 polling station to cast votes. The state chief electoral officer, Surendra Kumar, took a break from his busy schedule and cast his vote at Unit-9 polling station. DGP R K Sharma also exercised his frnachise on Tuesday. Among others who voted in the third phase were Puri king Dibyasingha Deb, sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik and actors such as Anu Chaudhury, Barsha Priyadarshini, Sabyasachi Mishra and Bijoy Mohanty.