Phase II Of Odisha Panchayat Polls Begins Amid Greater Security

Bhubaneswar: Voters started queueing up to seal the fate of 747 candidates in the fray for the 186 Zilla Parishad (ZP) posts in 1514 panchayats across 68 blocks in Odisha, on Friday morning.

Besides 186 ZPs, 20,436 wards are going to polls in the 2nd phase of Panchayat elections across 30 districts in the state, amid greater security with 240 platoons of forces being deployed compared to 235 in the first one. There will be 1,753 mobile patrolling parties compared to 1,824 on Wednesday when violence marred the first phase of polling.

Bhandaripokhari, Boudh, Badamba, Dhenkanal, Baripada, Nimapada, Chandbali, Jeypore and Koraput, including the disputed Kotia panchayat under Pottangi block are some of the key constituencies. 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.

According to sources in State Election Commission (SEC), the election is being conducted in 20,436 booths and 3,065 among them have been identified as sensitive.

Over 62.10 lakh voters are expected to exercise their franchise.