Repoll ordered in 32 wards

BHUBANESWAR: The State Election Commission (SEC) has ordered repoll in 32 wards in 11 gram panchayats of seven districts in the second phase panchayat polls. The repolling in 11 wards of Ajayagada gram panchayat in Gumma block of Gajapati district, the highest, will be held on February 18. Repolling will be held in seven wards of Cuttack district also on February 18 and in five wards of Bijepur block of Bargarh district on February 19. According to the revised figures, 75.04 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in the second phase poll on Monday. The highest polling of 87 per cent was reported from Boudh district while Ganjam reported the lowest at 66 per cent. In the third phase poll on Wednesday, 53.88 lakh voters will cast their votes in 19,068 booths for 188 ZP seats. Security has been stepped up in the Maoist-affected areas to ensure incident-free polling.