By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: About 71 per cent polling recorded till 1 PM, as per preliminary reports. However, the final voting percentage will be known after receiving final reports from districts in the 2nd phase of Odisha Panchayat and Zilla Parishad polls.
There was 77.2 per cent polling during the first phase of election in the State.However, the election was marred by violence in two booths of Jagatsinghpur as violence erupted in the booths while miscreants looted ballot box from Barang block’s Kurangapradhan Panchayat booth-11.
At half dozen places, people have boycotted polls. The voting was held for 186 Zilla Parishad seats, 1,514 Sarpanch seats and 20,436 Ward Members in 68 Blocks of the State.
The election was held peacefully in the disputed Kotia region of Koraput district. Security personnel were deployed in Kotia villages to instill confidence among the locals.
