70% polling in 4th phase

BHUBANESWAR: The BJD has surged ahead in Zilla Parishad (ZP) polls with unofficial reports about victory of party candidates reaching here from different parts of the State.  According to unconfirmed reports, the BJD candidates were ahead in around 130 seats followed by the Congress in 20 to 30 seats out of the 164 ZP seats which went to polls in the fourth-phase panchayat elections on Friday.  About 70.66 per cent of the 46,47,195 voters exercised their franchise amidst stray incidents of violence and reports of booth capturing and boycott of polls.  Jagatsinghpur and Gajapati districts registered the maximum voter turnout at 78 per cent while Keonjhar district recorded the minimum 61 per cent. The fifth and last-phase elections are scheduled for February 19.   Polling passed off by and large peacefully, barring stray incidents of violence and attempted booth capturing, in districts like Cuttack, Nayagarh, Jajpur and Kendrapara. In Ganjam district, body of a 58-year-old man was recovered from Tulasipalli in Diha Padhal gram panchayat under Bhanjanagar area.  The deceased was identified as Dandapani Bisoi, father of Manoranjan Bisoi, one of the accused persons arrested in connection with the murder of Lalu Gouda. Lalu was the son of a sarpanch candidate in Diha Padhal.  In remote and Maoist-hit Malkangiri district, people belonging to Konda Reddy community boycotted the elections in three booths in Kalimela area protesting denial of tribal status to them. In Sundargarh district, people in Sagarpally in Mangeshpur gram panchayat in Tangarpally block boycotted polls demanding their place be declared a Revenue village.  Bari and Jajpur blocks in Jajpur district witnessed incidents of violence, booth capturing and snatching of ballot boxes, sources said.  Miscreants snatched ballot boxes from seven booths in Golkund panchayat under  Bari block and dumped them in nearby ponds. They also snatched ballot boxes from two booths of Ratalanga under the same block and dumped them in a well.  Ballot boxes were also snatched from two booths in Jahanpur and Chhatis Debil of Jajpur block. Loot of ballot papers was also reported from two booths in Bandhapada and Nurupur panchayat of Bari block.