Bhubaneswar Mar 24 :
About 40 lakh voters to vote their candidates to elect mayors, chairpersons, corporators and councillors in 109 urban local bodies, along with three municipal corporations of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur today .
Though the tenure of these civic bodies had ended in 2018-19. However, elections could not be held due to various reasons .
A total of 569 mayor and chairperson, 5,842 corporator and councillor candidates are in the fray. Polling will take place at 1,837 wards from 8 am to 5 pm on Thursday, while counting of votes will start from 8 am onwards on March 26.
State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi also warned that action will be taken against those found taking part in the urban elections after voting in the recently concluded panchayat polls.
A total 105 platoons force and 110 mobile patrolling squads along with other police officers will be deployed in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur, while another 100 platoons police force along with 340 mobile patrolling parties will man the remaining 47 municipalities and 59 NACs.
Two EVMs will be used in each booth of the municipal corporations, municipalities and NACs to elect mayors and corporators besides, chairpersons and councillors. Voters will also have the option of none-of-the-above.