Bhubaneswar: Elections were held in 13,514 booths for 131 Zilla Parishads, 975 gram panchayats, in 48 blocks of 25 districts in the fifth phase of three-tier rural polls on Thursday.
State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi said total 41.88 lakh voters polled in this phase during which approximately 70 per cent polling was recorded.
In the Panchayat polls this year, voting was done at 91,913 booths, for 1,06,353 posts, during which 2.79 crore voters cast their votes. In Thuamal Rampur of Kalahandi and Chitrakonda of Malkangiri district, the voting process was carried out peacefully, which was a crucial development, said Padhi.
“Rs 15 lakh ex-gratia will be awarded to the families of personnel on poll duty who lost their lives in the accident in Nabarangpur,” the SEC added, and thanked police personnel, polling officials, political parties, public and journalists for their contribution in conduct of the elections.
