Bhubaneswar: Campaigning for the first phase of the three-tier Panchayat elections came to a close on Monday with parties taking the help of cine stars to woo the voters.
Now, Odisha is ready to vote in 200 zilla parishad (ZP) zones in 71 blocks, 1,669 panchayats and 22,379 wards on Wednesday (February 16).
A total of 67.51 lakh voters will exercise their franchise from 7 am till 1 pm.
Hinjli, Seragada, Patnagarh, Mahanga, Junagarh, Aul and Brahmagiri are some key constituencies that will go to poll in the first phase. Junagarh will be a key battleground with BJD eyeing to make a comeback after its worst performance in 2017 when it had won only 1 ZP seat. The BJP had swept with 33 of 36 ZP seats.
In 2017, BJP has emerged as the principal gainer by winning 297 of 846 Zilla Parishad seats while BJD won 473.
On Monday, polling officials left for their respective booths in 11 districts – Balasore, Bhadrak, Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Boudh, Rayagada and Koraput, State Election Commission (SEC) secretary RN Sahu told the media.
The other group will leave for the remaining 19 districts on Tuesday, he added.
With Red shadow hovering over the elections and Maoists calling for a boycott of the polls, special security arrangements have been made in the districts of Malakngiri, Koraput, Kalahandi, Balangir, Rayagada and Kandhamal.
Arrangements have also been made for video recording at sensitive booths and CCTVs have been installed at counting and strong rooms where ballot boxes are to be stored after the polling.
Polling for the other four phases will be held on February 18, 20, 22, 24. Over 2.79 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise in these elections. The centralised counting of votes will take place on February 26, 27 and 28.
The elections will not be conducted in seven Gram Panchayats – four in Remuna in Balasore, two in Odanga in Nayagarh and one in Bijepur in Bargarh district- as these GPs have been included in the notified area councils.
