Malkangiri: The people of Chitrakonda block in the district, who have been deprived of exercising their franchise for 15 years due to Maoist threat, will get the opportunity to participate in the electoral process on Thursday when the panchayat elections will be held.
As many as 151 areas in the interior pockets of the block, which were known as cut-off areas, had remained the hotbed of the Maoists for its inaccessibility. But the situation took a dramatic turn in 2018 when Gurupriya bridge was inaugurated, opening the area, now known as Swabhiman Anchal, to development and modern facilities.
The last time the entire population of the Swabhiman Anchal participated in the election process was in 2007. Since then, the elections have been postponed due to Maoist threat.
With the Gurupriya Bridge offering smooth communication and Maoist shadow withdrawing due to active operations of the security forces, the Swabhiman Anchal will go to the fifth and final phase of the panchayat elections along with other parts of the state on Thursday.
The electorate of Swabhiman Anchal will vote for their representatives for two Zilla Parishad (ZP), 18 sarpanch and 200 ward member posts. An estimated 41,582 voters will cast their vote at 222 polling stations set up in the area. The administration has identified 81 polling stations as sensitive and 6o as hypersensitive.
Total 144 candidates, including seven for ZP, 59 for sarpanch, 41 samiti member and 37 ward member posts, are in the fray this time.
It may be noted that though the Maoist presence has drastically come down in Swabhiman Anchal, the Left wing extremists(LWEs) continue to attempt disruptive activities in remote pockets. The security forces had unearthed weapons and explosives, suspected to be belonging to Maoists, from Nadamanajeri forest in the area three days back.
