BHUBANESWAR: The campaigning for the first phase of the three-tier panchayat polls came to an end on Saturday in 189 Zilla Parishad (ZP) zones of 65 blocks in 29 districts in the state. Polling in these areas will be held on February 13.The State Election Commission (SEC) on Saturday directed the collectors and SPs of the concerned districts to stay alert and maintain peace during the election. In the first phase, elections will be held at 189 ZP zones, 1506 panchayats and 20,369 wards in 29 districts. Total 58, 28,446 voters will cast their votes in the election.SEC secretary Rabindranath Sahu said a total of 1, 10,000 police and government employees will be deployed for the first phase polls. They will reach at the concerned polling booth by Sunday evening. Polling will begin at 7am, he added.He also said the leaders, who are not the voters and presently staying in the election area, have to leave the area by Saturday evening. The SEC has also put restriction on selling of liquor or other contraband in the area which is going for polls on Monday. The state government has already asked all district collectors to stop sale of liquor in poll- bound areas 48 hours before the election date and the day after.The SEC has directed concerned district collectors and SPs to ensure the safety and security of candidates, voters, poling officials and security personnel during election.Sahu said the SEC has directed the top officials of the district to stop booth rigging and poll violence in the election area. It has asked the officials to keep extra vigil on sensitive and highly sensitive booths of the state.The commission has identified 8,491 booths as hyper-sensitive and 18,931 booths as sensitive out of 92,052 booths in the state. Polling will be conducted for 853 ZP members, 6,802 Sarpanches, 6,801 Panchayat Samiti members and 92,052 ward members. Total 2, 60, 92,507 voters will take part in the election. Elections will be held in five phases on February 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21 respectively.

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