Bhubaneswar: Voters queued up outside booths as polling for three municipal corporations, 47 municipalities and 59 NACs began on Thursday in the Urban Local Body (ULB) elections in Odisha. Voting began at 8 am and will continue till 5 pm.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik cast his vote at booth 544 at Aerodrome Upper Primary School under Ward No. 53 of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Naveen walked all the way from his residence ‘Naveen Nivas’ to the booth, covering a distance of around 200 metres.
The CM was accompanied by security personnel. Later, he came out of the booth and showed his inked finger.
Aparajita Sarangi, BJP MP from Bhubaneswar, won’t be able to vote as she is away in Delhi attending the Parliament session.
“My best wishes to all candidates who are contesting in ULB election in my state — Odisha. I will urge everyone to please cast your vote. This is your right. Wish I were there in Bhubaneswar today. There is a whip issued today for compulsorily attending the Parliament session today,” she tweeted.
EVM glitches delayed polling at several booths in the morning. Glitches in EVMs were reported from Athagarh, G. Udayagiri NAC, Nayapalli in Bhubaneswar and Nuapada NAC.
Over 40.55 lakh voters will exercise their franchise in the elections to ULBs in Odisha.
A total of 22,000 polling personnel are on duty. Security is being provided by 195 platoons of police force, including 30 for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), 20 for the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and 10 for the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC).
