BHUBANESWAR: The BJP claims that panchayat polls will be a trailer for the 2019 Assembly Elections in Odisha may actually be turning true with the party significantly improving its position in the Zilla Parishad (ZP) elections as the State went to the first phase of the three-tier elections on Tuesday.
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At least 71 percent voters turned out to exercise their franchise amidst sporadic incidence of violence and boycotts across the State. And going by the unofficial counting trends, the first phase of the lections suggest that the ruling BJD is ahead of other political parties in the ZP seats but the BJP is not far behind and may even catch up with the regional outfit in later phases.
According to results announced unofficially so far, BJD candidates are reported to have won in 59 Zilla Parishad (ZP) zones followed by 37 by the BJP candidates. Congress is reported to have won only eight seats so far while two seats have gone to the independents.
The slender margin of difference in seats won, between BJD and BJP, has come as a shock to the ruling party managers who were expecting a complete sweep by the regional outfit in the panchayat polls.
“We are winning but the Congress has left the field whose benefit has gone to the BJP,” a subdued Surya Narayan Patro, former minister and BJD spokesperson said.
The BJP camp was charged with energy. Spokesperson Sajjan Sharma said the results so far indicate that the people want a change and there will be a change in 2019 Assembly Elections.
A look at the 2012 panchayat elections puts the whole scenario in perspective. In the panchayat polls five years back, BJD had won in 651 seats followed by Congress in 128 seats. The BJP was a distant third winning just 36 ZP seats while 22 seats had gone to independents.
While the BJP candidates have done exceedingly well in Kalahandi, Bargarh, Mayurbhanj and Kendrapara districts, BJD won all the seats which went to polls in the first phase in Puri, Koraput, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Sonepur and Nuapada districts.
The BJD received a serious jolt when the ZP in Ekamra Assembly Constituency of Bhubanewswar was won by BJP by a margin of more than 1300 votes. The trends have, however, been a big let down for the Congress which is way behind the BJD and BJP.
In the first-phase voting, Sonepur district recorded a whopping 84.3 percent polling, the highest, followed by 84 percent in Jagatsinghpur district. Balangir, with 60 percent, recorded the lowest polling on the day when ballot box snatching was reported from a number of booths after the voting hours.
However, no Maoist violence was reported during the polls although the Left Wing Extremists torched a contractor’s camp in Balangir's Khaprakhole block late last night. The State Election Commission (SEC) said, the incident had nothing to do with the elections.
State Election Commissioner RN Senapati said, there were reports of disturbances in Jajpur, Puri, Kendrapara, Cuttack and Nuapada. In Komana block, a ballot box was torched by a menatlly-challenged person.
“We have sought detailed reports from the Collectors after which decision on repolling will be taken,” Senapati said.
The polling which began at 7 pm was moderate and by 10 am, when the voting rate was about 35 percent which rose to 50 percent at around 11 pm.
In northern district of Keonjhar's Hatadihi block, voting could not be held after polling officials were prevented from reaching booths at seven places.
People boycotted polls protresting re-organisation of the panchayat bodies and absence of basic amenities at many places.
"Barring sporadic incidence, election process has been, by and large, peaceful in the Central Range districts," IG (Central), Saumendra Priyadarshi said.
In the Left Wing Extremist stronghold of Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur, no Maoist disturbance was reported despite threats from the outfit in the recent weeks. In 27 booths under Lamataput under Koraput, polling was very healthy.
"Voting has been peaceful across the southern districts and we are keeping a close watch on the proceedings," DIG, South Western Range S Shyni said.
As many as 65 blocks in 29 districts went to polls in the first phase. The polling has been conducted for 198 Zilla Parishad zones comprising 1,506 gram panchayats and 20,369 wards. Results will be officially announced on February 23.