Odisha panchayat elections: Final phase of polling ends

Bhubaneswar: Polling in the fifth and last phase of Odisha panchayat polls ended in 25 districts on Thursday, SEC officials said.

Voting began in 13,514 booths in 975 panchayats at 7 AM. More than 41 lakh voters were eligible to decide the fate of candidates in 131 Zilla Parishad zones, reported PTI.

While polling was peaceful till 9 AM in two Zilla Parishad zones and 18 panchayats in Swabhiman Anchal, voting was disrupted in ward number 1 of Katasahi panchayat in Dhamnagar block of Bhadrak district after some people barged into a booth and decamped with the ballot papers, reported the news agency.

A person was also critically injured in political violence in Gadarupas in Gop Badatara panchayat of Puri district. The counting of votes will take place from February 26 to 28.