The third phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 23 will witness a battle between several political heavyweights as well as former bureaucrats in Odisha.
As many as four former bureaucrats will contest the Lok Sabha polls for the first time in the third phase.
Six Lok Sabha constituencies — Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Keonjhar and Dhenkanal — will go to the polls along with the 42 Assembly segments in their jurisdiction on April 23.
A total of 92.65 lakh voters will decide the fate of 61 Lok Sabha and 356 Assembly candidates in 10,464 booths, an election official said.
Out of the total voters, 47.99 lakh are male, 44.56 lakh female while 1,163 belong to the ‘other’ category, the official said.
An interesting battle will be witnessed in Bhubaneswar where former IAS officer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Aparajita Sarangi will lock horns with former Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik, who is contesting on a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ticket.