Odisha panchayat polls: 67.51 lakh voters to decide fate of 726 candidates in phase I

Bhubaneswar: Over 67.51 lakh voters will decide the fate of 726 zilla parishad candidates in the first phase of panchayat polls in Odisha to be held on Wednesday.

The three-tier panchayat elections in Odisha will be held in five phases – on February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24, reported IANS.

Over 2.79 crore voters will exercise their franchise in 6,794 panchayats and 91,913 wards.

The election will be held for the positions of ward member, sarpanch, panchayat samiti member and zilla parishad member. In the first phase of elections, 200 zilla parishad zones in 71 blocks in all the 30 districts will go to the polls.

Voting will be carried out at 22,379 wards and 1,669 panchayats across the state. As many as 67.51 lakh voters will exercise their franchise in the first phase.

As many as 13,785 booths have been identified as sensitive booths across Odisha, of which polling will be held at 3,357 booths in the first phase on Wednesday.

Covid positive voters will be allowed to cast their votes during the last hour of polling with strict adherence to Covid protocols.