Out of a total of 5,383 polling booths spread over 404 Gram Panchayats under 56 Zilla Parishad Zones in 26 Blocks of Mayurbhanj, 309 booths have been identified as hypersensitive booths. Besides, 538 booths have been identified as sensitive and the remaining 4,536 booths have been marked as non-sensitive.
This was revealed by the district administration here on Tuesday. In an important meeting held here under the chairmanship of Mayurbhanj district Collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, the administration also claimed to have put in place all necessary arrangements to hold free and fair, smooth and violence-free Panchayat polls in Mayurbhanj.
The meeting which was attended by representatives of different political parties and print and electronic media, apart from the district level officials, also emphasized the need of enforcing the model code in true spirit.
ADM Ramakrushna Sahu and Madhav Minj will remain alert till the end of the election process, as District Election Observers, with whom any complaint regarding any irregularity during electioneering can be lodged.
The SP disclosed that there would be strict vigil and intensive patrolling in all the sensitive areas of the district. Inter-State border sealing will also be done at the earliest in view of the elections, he said.
The 3-tier panchayat polls are going to be held in 5 phases in Mayurbhanj. While six Blocks each will be covered on February 13 and 15, the remaining two, five and seven Blocks of the district will go to polls on February 17, 19 and 21respectively. While all the 32 ZP Zones of Baripada Sadar and Kaptipada Sub-divisions shall be covered on the first three dates of polling (February13, 15 and 17), the remaining 24 ZP Zones shall go to polls in the final two phases, on February 19 and 21. The administration, it is learnt, is trying its best and leaving nothing to chance, to ensure free and fair elections in the sensitive, tribal-dominated border district.