Bhubaneswar: Polling for the urban local body election began today amid tight security across Odisha. The voting which began at 8 AM will continue till 5 PM.
Over 40 lakh voters will cast their votes during this urban local body election which is being held for 47 municipalities, 59 NACs and 3 three Municipal Corporations namely Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Berhampur.
The State Election Commission, Odisha, has set up 2989 booths in 1672 wards of the Municipalities/NACs and 1384 booths under 165 wards of the Municipal Corporations. It has engaged more than 22,000 polling personnel.
As many as 6411 candidates are in the fray, including 569 contesting for the post of Mayor/Chairperson and 5842 for the post of Corporator/Councilor.
According to reports, 195 platoons of police force, including OSAP, IR Battalion, and Special Security Battalion, have been deployed to maintain law and order during the urban polls.
In Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) alone 30 platoons of police force have been deployed. Likewise, 20 platoons of police force have been engaged for Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), and 10 platoons for Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC).
Apart from 195 platoons of police force, the State Police has deployed 300 mobile parties for peaceful voting.
Each polling booth will be guarded by one constable, havildar, or armed police.
Kalinga AI