Over 73% Polling Reported In Fourth Phase Of Panchayat Polls In Odisha
Bhubaneswar, Feb 22: Over 73 percent voters have exercised their franchise in the fourth phase of polling in panchayat elections held on Tuesday, State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi said. He also mentioned the vote percentage is likely to increase after the receipt of the final report.
The SEC said barring disruption of voting in four to five places, the election was peaceful by and large across the state. He said a decision on re-polling in these places would be taken after receiving reports from the District Collectors.
State Election Commission office sources said the Maoist prone Trilochanpur in Niyamgiri of Malkangiri district recorded 80 percent polling while Nagada, an inaccessible village in Jajpur reported 83 percent voting. The election in Niyamgiri and Nagada could not be held for the last 20 years due to communication problems.
Reports said the Presiding Officer of Booth No 10 in Kumar Panchayat of Basudevpur block was assaulted on the charge of tampering with the seal of the ballot box.
Voting was stopped for the post of Sarpanch in Kendrapara district and for the post of a ward member in Jajpur due to some problems in ballots.
A 65 year old woman collapsed while standing on the queue to cast her vote in front of booth No 7 of Berhampur village in Balasore district. She was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital but the doctors declared her dead.
In some districts the villagers boycotted the polling due to non fulfilment of their longstanding demand.
