Bhubaneswar: Stray incidents of violence and sporadic poll boycott marred the first phase of the three-tier panchayat elections Monday.
Elections were held for 188 Zilla Parishad (ZP) Zones, 1,506 gram panchayats and 20,369 wards in the first phase.
While State Election Commissioner (SEC) RN Senapati claimed that the elections remained peaceful by and large, he admitted of the sporadic untoward incidents reported from various districts.
The incidents ranged from ballot box loot to minor clashes to polling booth capture to detention of polling officials. A few reports of Maoist violence were also reported.
Miscreants in Jagdalpur panchayat of Patakura constituency in Kendrapara district looted the ballot box from booth no. 14 and threw it into a nearby river which the local police managed to recover somehow.
Likewise, tension ran high at Brahmagiri in Puri district after the husband of a sarpanch candidate of Ghatukuli panchayat was injured in a violent attack following which he was rushed to a hospital.
In another poll violence incident in Brahmagiri, three persons were injured at Rahadamalla village and admitted to a local hospital. Police security was tightened in the area thereafter.
Several incidents of poll boycott and capturing of polling booths were also reported.
The Daruthenga panchayat on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar remained in the news again with the residents boycotting the rural polls over their long pending demand of shifting of the dumping yard from their locality to another place.
While no nomination papers had been filed for ward member, samiti member and sarpanch seats in the village, the locals did not turn up for voting to Zilla Parishad Zone seat for which three candidates were in the fray.
In Keonjhar district, voters of seven booths of K Balipal panchayat under Hatadihi block boycotted the first phase rural elections and didn’t allow polling officials to enter into the locality alleging unavailability of basic amenities.
Voting was also boycotted in parts of Balijhari panchayat under Narasinghpur block in Cuttack district as well as at some places in Bhamili panchayat under Umerkote block in Nabarangpur district.
Besides, locals abstained from exercising their franchise in Baruni village under Tihidi block of Bhadrak district and at nine booths in Kachuadi panchayat under Bhograi block of Balasore district over panchayat restructure.
Sources said at some booths in Anandapur block locals allegedly didn’t allow polling officials to conduct elections.
Maoist threat and violence incidents were also reported during the day. Posters, alleged to be put by Maoists asking voters to boycott elections, were found in front of the Somnathpur panchayat office in Korukonda block of Malkangiri district.
On the other hand, reacting to reports of poll violence and boycott incidents, the SEC said district collectors concerned have been asked to submit reports on these issues and action will be taken accordingly.
Over 1.10 lakh police personnel and government officials were on duty in the first phase for smooth conduct of the elections during the day in which the average voters turn out remained 71 per cent.
The second phase voting will be held February 15. SEC officials said security will be tightened further in the coming four phases. PNN