Jajpur: As the panchayat elections in the two phases witnessed incidents of violence, booth rigging and vote box snatching in Jajpur, the administration has further tightened security at 261 sensitive and 71 hyper-sensitive booths under Binjharpur and Korei blocks ahead of the third phase of elections Sunday.
Elections will be held for seven zilla parishad zones and 57 panchayats under the two blocks, where 2,75,277 voters will determine the fate of the candidates.
Reports said that the administration has identified 134 sensitive and 49 hyper-sensitive booths in Binjharpur block while 127 booths were identified as sensitive and 22 hyper-sensitive in Korei block.
Over the incidents of violence during the last two phases, the administration had to face flak from various quarters. In view of possibility of violence again in the third phase, the administration has made elaborate security arrangements at 261 sensitive and 71 hyper-sensitive booths.
Notably, Binjharpur MLA Pramila Mallick was prohibited by the State Election Commission (SEC) from participating in campaigns after she was recently found violating model code of conduct at a meeting. She was seen in a video making threats to cancel voters’ ration cards if they do not vote for the ruling party candidates.
Her conduct has reportedly created deep resentment among voters in certain areas of Binjharpur.
On the other hand, leaders of the BJP and Congress have been highlighting alleged irregularities and scams in the two blocks.
In Binjharpur, as many as 16 candidates from BJD, BJP, Congress and SUCI have thrown their hats into the ring in four ZP zones. However, the BJD and BJP will have tough contest in these seats. In the 2017 panchayat elections, the BJP had grabbed 43 percent votes. Now, it remains to be seen how far the saffron party will be able to retain the vote share.
In Korei block, there are 12 candidates from the BJD, BJP, Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in ZP zones under Korei block.
PNN