Bhubaneswar: Odisha reported a voter turnout of 30 per cent till 11 pm on Wednesday in the first phase of the three-tier panchayat elections in the state, the State Election Commission (SEC) informed. Polling started at 7 am and will end at 1 pm.
In the first phase, polling is on in 1,669 panchayats and 22,379 wards across 200 zilla parishads in 71 blocks to decide the fate of 726 candidates.
ADVERTISEMENT
As many as 225 platoons of police force were deployed.
In 2017, BJP emerged as the principal gainer by winning 297 of 846 zilla parishad seats while BJD won 473.
