36% voter turnout till 11 a.m. in 4th phase of Odisha Panchayat polls

Bhubaneswar, Feb 22 An average 36 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 11 a.m. in the fourth phase of the Panchayat polls underway in 163 Zilla Parishad zones spread over 64 blocks of Odisha, an official said here on Tuesday.

The polling began at 7 a.m. Voters were seen standing in long queues before polling booths to exercise their franchise.

Polling is being held at 17,089 booths in 1,254 Gram Panchayats spread over 27 districts of the state, the official said.

Meanwhile, an elderly woman died while waiting for her turn to cast her vote outside a booth in Nilgiri block of Balasore district.

Following the violence reported in the first three phases of the Panchayat polls, the Odisha police have strengthened the security arrangements.

The police have deployed 257 platoons and 1,473 mobile patrolling parties along with district police officials for the fourth phase of the poll.

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