Odisha Police gear up for second phase elections

BHUBANESWAR: After ensuring incident-free elections in the first phase on Thursday, the Odisha police pulled up its socks for the second phase polls, scheduled for April 18.

Aska

,

Bargarh

, Balangir, Kandhamal and Sundargarh

Lok Sabha

seats and 35 assembly segments under them will go to the polls in the second phase.

DGP B K Sharma on Friday took stock of the poll preparedness at those places through video-conferencing with the concerned SPs. The five Lok Sabha and 35 assembly seats, spread across 11 districts, included some Maoist-affected belts. “We successfully managed to conduct polls in several Maoist strongholds, including

Koraput

, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in the first phase on Thursday. Our efforts will continue to remain the same so that the polls in the remaining phases conclude peacefully,” Sharma told TOI.

Sharma emphasized on enforcement of model code of conduct, strict adherence to the guidelines for police and security arrangements, including visit of VIPs and VVIPs. “We have supplied adequate numbers of satellite phones, VHF sets and GPS tracking devices to our personnel in inaccessible areas. SPs have been asked to conduct flag march in sensitive areas to maintain peace and order,” Sharma said.

As a number of high profile politicians and star campaigners of different parties, including prime minister Narendra Modi, union ministers and Congress president Rahul Gandhi are likely to tour Odisha frequently for campaigning, the SPs have been asked to adopt adequate security measures.

SPs have been instructed to follow the prescribed standard operating procedure (SOP) during the movement of the elite political leaders across the state, mostly in Naxal-affected regions. “We have asked the police in districts to take adequate precautionary and preparatory measures during the visit of VVIPs and other dignitaries. The SPs should have proper co-ordination with the officers of SPG during the visit of prime minister. Adequate steps should be taken for effective crowd control. Limited number of people should be allowed on the dais during VVIP programmes,” Sharma said.