In Pictures: 20% Voter Turnout Till 9 AM In Phase II Of Odisha Panchayat Polls

Bhubaneswar: The second phase of Panchayat elections in Odisha saw 20 per cent voter turnout till 9 am on Friday, the State Election Commission informed.

Over 62 lakh voters are expected to exercise their franchise to seal the fate of 747 candidates for 186 Zilla Parishad (ZP) posts in 1514 panchayats across 68 blocks in the state.

After the Wednesday violence, security measures have been heightened across Odisha with the deployment of 240 platoons force and 1753 mobile patrolling parties along with district police personnel for smooth conduct of the polls.

A long queue of voters was seen at Chudangapur village under Sanakhemundi block in Ganjam, which had polled the least percentage of votes in the first phase.

Voters are yet to turn up at the polling booths in Baradajodi and Ladipadar under Tentulikhunti panchayat, where the villagers are boycotting elections over alleged lack of basic amenities in their areas. 

Madanpur Rampur block in Kalahandi district and Kotagarh in Kandhamal district, where EDs purportedly planted by the Maoists killed journalist Rohit Biswal on February 5 and grazier Priyranjan Kanhr on February 9, will also vote till 1 pm.

All eyes are on the disputed Kotia panchayat, where people will cast votes at 652 booths set up in Pottangi, Jeypore, and seven zones in Koraput to decide the fates of 50 Sarpanchs and Samiti members besides 652 ward member candidates.

Around 5,197 voters will exercise their franchise in 13 booths of Kotia. Around six platoons of police force have been deployed to maintain law and order and check incursions.

In the first phase, over 67.51 lakh voters exercised their franchise in 200 Zilla Parishad zones under 71 blocks for Ward Member, Sarpanch, Panchayat Samiti Member and ZP Member posts.

The three-tier panchayat elections in Odisha is being held in five phases. Voting for the remaining three phases will be conducted on February 20, 22 and 24. Over 2.79 crore voters will cast votes in 6,794 panchayats and 91,913 wards.