The State Election Commission today postponed the three-tier Panchayat elections in the Chitrakonda block of Malkangiri district in wake of the Maoist threat, official sources said.
"The commission has put on hold pollings in two Zilla parishad zones and 15 gram panchayats based on the joint report of the Malkangiri District Magistrate-cum collector and Superintendent of Police (SP)," a State Election Commission (SEC) said in a statement.
The district collector and SP in their reports have suggested the SEC not to hold pollings in Chitakonda Zilla Parishand zone-1 and zone-1 in view of the security threat to the candidates and the officials to be engaged in the election process, they said.
While announcing its decision to put on hold the polling in two Zilla parishad zones and 18 GPs, the SEC said that the polling will be held in places where more than one candidates have filed nomination papers later.
This apart, the commission stated that the election process has been cancelled in gram panchayats where no one has filed nomination papers.
The Maoists on January 13 had kidnapped at least six persons comprising a candidate and five officials engaged in the election process. However, all of them were later released after being produced in the "Praja Court" of Maoists.
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