Bhubaneswar: The first of the five-phase panchayat elections in Odisha will be held today.
More than 67.51 lakh voters will decide the fate of 726 Zilla Parishad (ZP) candidates in this phase.
The polling will be held from 7 am to 1 pm and only voters whose names are mentioned in the ward-wise voters’ list will be allowed to exercise their franchise, the State Election Commission (SEC) said.
The elections will be held for the positions of ward member, sarpanch, panchayat samiti member and ZP member.
As many as 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.
Security has been beefed up for the elections. 225 platoons comprising 37,245 police personnel are being deployed to maintain law and order.
Other four phases of the elections will be on February 18, 20, 22 and 24.