Repolling will be held in Wards under four districts on February 18. Re-polling will be held in five booths under Dharmasala block in Jajpur district. There were allegations of miscreants snatching ballot boxes from polling officials after the first phase of panchayat election on Monday.
The polling booths where re-poll will be held are booths 5,6 and 7 of Uttarpratap panchayat and booth 12 and 13 of Deoda panchayat of Dharmasala block. According to reports, a candidate, contesting for Sarpanch post in Deoda panchayat and his two sons snatched ballot boxes from the polling parties while they were returning to Dharmasala block office after conducting polls in booths 12 and 13 of the panchayat.
Likewise, miscreants looted ballot boxes from the booth 5,6 and 7 of Uttarpratap panchayat of the block and threw them into the pond after polling was over.
Re-polling will also be held in 11 Wards under Patkura, Bangalpur and Ramachandrapur gram panchayats of Garadpur block of Kendrapara district. The Collector informed that re-election will be held in Ward 14 of Patkura, Wards 12 and 8 in Bangalpur and Wards 1,2,3,4,5,6,10 and 11 under Ramachandrapur.
After the first phase polling on Monday, a mob had barged into the polling booth at Ramachandrapur village under Patkura police limits and took away six ballot boxes that contained the counted ballot papers.
The mob also assaulted the polling staff and then set the ballot boxes on fire. The incident took place when the polling personnel were getting ready to go to Garadpur block office to deposit the ballot boxes.
In Dhenkanal, three ballot papers were snatched away by miscreants in Ward 4 of Baunsapal gram panchayat in Kamakhyanagar on Monday following which, the State Election Commission (SEC) has ordered re-election. Similarly, Ward 12 of Kureswar gram panchayat under Komna block of Nuapada district will go to polls again as a mentally-ill person set a ballot box on fire.
Repolling in 13 booths of Puri district will be held on February 20 after disturbances during the first phase. They include nine booths in Alibada gram panchayat (GP) and one booth in Baku GP of Kanas block, one each in Panchupalli and Ambapada GPs of Brahmagiri block and one in Badajhar GP of Krushnaprasad block.
On Monday, during polling and transportation of the materials, miscreants looted ballot boxes which were later retrieved by the police from the water bodies in the locality.
On the other hand, in the wake of the assault on polling officer and staff on Brahmagiri block campus in presence of BDO and police officers, a teachers’ body had lodged a complaint with District Election Officer seeking adequate police protection during polling.
On Monday evening, when a polling party was in Brahmagiri block, some villagers barged in and assaulted the polling officer. They alleged that the BDO and the police officers present at the spot failed to protect them. The District Election Officer has assured that police protection will be provided during the next phases of elections.
The Sundargarh administration will hold re-polling at a polling booth of Badadalki Nodal UP School in Badadalki panchayat of Lathikata block after unidentified miscreants on Monday evening assaulted a polling party and destroyed poll materials.
The SEC ordered re-polling of the booth under Ward 9 on February 20. Sundargarh Collector Bhupendra Singh Poonia said that supporters of a woman candidate were found to be involved in the incident in which two polling personnel were injured. Rourkela SP Anirudh Singh on Tuesday said four persons, including the husband of the woman candidate, were detained and would be forwarded to court.