BHUBANESWAR: The first phase poll dotted with violence, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday directed the Director-General of Police (DGP) to beef up measures to ensure incident-free polling during the remaining rounds.
Expressing concern over violence reported from many districts, State Election Commissioner AP Padhi convened an urgent meeting to discuss the situation and preparation by police for the second phase polling. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra and Home Secretary Sanjeev Chopra.
DGP SK Bansal was asked to strengthen security measures during the polls and initiate stringent action against those indulging in violence. As many as 3,065 out of the 20,436 booths have been identified as sensitive for the second phase polls.
In wake of the violence in the first phase, deployment of police force has been strengthened. As many as 240 platoons of police will be deployed to maintain law and order and free and fair elections. Besides, 1,753 patrolling parties will be on the job to take action in case of any untoward incident.
The DGP warned that any violence during the polls would not be tolerated and stringent action taken against those engaged in such activities.“Two to three districts witnessed stray incidents of violence in the first phase and police will round up all those responsible,” Bansal told The New Indian Express.
He also pointed out that the number of polling booths will reduce as the five-phase election progresses and district administration as well as police will be able to keep a close vigil on the unscrupulous elements. In the first phase, there were over 22,000 polling booths. Meanwhile, re-polling is likely to be held in as many as 25 booths which were affected by violence in the first phase. Secretary RN Sahu said, the Commission will examine proposals from Collectors and take a decision. Police have so far arrested 36 persons for violence during the first phase elections.
While 16 persons were arrested from Puri district, 14 were held from Jajpur district. Besides, six persons were arrested from Dhenkanal district. For the second round, 747 candidates are contesting for 186 zilla parishad zones in 68 blocks of the State. Besides, polling will also be held for the posts of sarpanch and samiti member in 1,514 gram panchayats.