Odisha Rural Polls: Woman dies while standing in queue to cast vote
State registers 71 turnout in Phase-4 polls, re-polling in 45 booths on Wednesday
By Kishore Mohapatra
Bhubaneswar, Feb. 22: In an unfortunate incident, an elderly woman on Tuesday died at a polling station in the fourth phase of Odisha panchayat polls in Berhampur gram panchayat under Nilgiri block in Odisha’s Balasore district.
The deceased was identified as Saraswati Barik, aged about 70 years.
According to reports, the incident occurred at Booth No. 7 in Berhampur village under Nilgiri Block in the morning.
Source said that the elderly woman collapsed while standing in queue to cast her vote. She was immediately rushed to the Berhampur Primary Health Centre, where she was declared dead.
Meanwhile, Odisha on Tuesday registered 73 per cent turnout in the fourth phase elections for the three-tier panchayat elections.
“The state today registered 73 per cent voting in the fourth phase of the polling for the three-tier panchayat elections,” State Election Commissioner (SEC) Aditya Prasad Padhi said.
Stating that the fourth phase polling was by and large peaceful barring some stray incidents, Mr Padhi said the voting percentage will most likely go up after final reports are received from various districts.
The Odisha State Election Commission on Tuesday informed that re-polling will be held on Wednesday in 45 booths where voting process was disrupted in the first and second phase of panchayat elections. Similarly, 30 other booths where interruptions were reported during the third phase will go for re-polls on February 25.
