Bhubaneswar: The State Election Commission (SEC) has made elaborate arrangements for the third phase of panchayat elections to be held Sunday.
As many as 171 zilla parishad (ZP) seats in 63 blocks under 29 districts of the state will go to polls in this phase, an official said Saturday.
The third round will be held at 18,495 booths in 1,382 gram panchayats (GPs) under 63 blocks.
Over 56.53 lakh voters will decide the fate of 679 ZP candidates along with other candidates in fray for the posts of ward member, sarpanch and panchayat samiti member. Out of the total booths, 2,773 booths have been identified as sensitive, said SEC secretary RN Sahu.
Polling parties have reached their respective booths. Voting will begin at 7am and continue till 1pm, he said.
In order to ensure free and fair elections, 240 platoons force, 1,625 mobile patrolling parties along with district police officers have been deployed all over the state. The election will be conducted with strict enforcement of SEC guidelines and Covid protocols.
Meanwhile, three village guards on poll duty were killed and several others injured when their bus overturned in Nabarangpur district. The incident happened at Sorispadar village near Mokia in Papadahandi block.
Meanwhile, an ex gratia of Rs 15 lakh has been announced for the next kin of those who were killed in Nabarangpur bus mishap Friday.
The fourth and the fifth (final) phase of elections will be held February 22 and 24, respectively. The counting of votes will be conducted from February 26 to 28.
Re-polling at 45 booths Feb 23:
The SEC will conduct re-polling at 45 booths, where elections were affected during the first two phases. Voting will be held from 9am to 3pm February 23.
Fresh polling will be carried out at 25 booths where voting could not be held during the first phase (February 16) and another 20 booths where voting was disturbed due to violence and other reasons during the second phase of polling (February 18).
Meanwhile, the police have rounded up 28 people in Jajpur, 6 in Dhenkanal, 5 in Jagatsinghpur and 23 in Puri in connection with poll disruptions during the first two phases.
PNN
