Bhubaneswar: Over 50 percent Voter Turnout was recorded till 5 PM on Thursday in the general elections to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Odisha, informed the Secretary of State Election Commission (SEC).
According to reports, voter turnout of 32 percent was recorded till 12 pm while it went up to 45 percent till 3 pm. Besides, Over 21 percent of polling was reported in three Municipal Corporations and 32 percent in remaining urban local bodies (ULBs) of Odisha till 12 pm.
Voting began in 106 Urban Local Bodies (47 Municipalities and 59 NACs) and three municipal corporations of the state at 8 am and continued till 5 pm today.
Elections to the posts of mayors in municipal corporations and chairpersons of municipalities and notified area councils (NACs) are being held for the very first time. NOTA option has also been introduced for first time in urban polls in the state.
As many as 195 platoons of the police force comprising OSAP, IR Battalion and special Security Battalion were deployed for conducting free and fair elections in 106 Municipality, NACs and three Corporations.
Besides, 30 platoons of police force were deployed in Bhubaneswar to maintain law and order. Similarly, 20 and 10 platoons of police force were deployed in Cuttack and Berhampur, respectively to prevent any untoward incident during the election. Apart from that, mobile squads were operating in different areas.
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. The counting will be held on March 26.
