Bhubaneswar: The much-awaited election to urban local bodies (ULBs) will be held in the state Thursday amid tight security.
The State Election Commission (SEC) and police have made elaborate arrangements for smooth conduct of the election in 109 ULBs of the state.
As many as 6,411 candidates are in the fray for election.
While 569 candidates have remained in the battlefield for the posts of chairperson and mayor, 5,842 candidates are there for the election to councillor and corporator seats, SEC officials said.
Over 40.55 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the election for which voting will be done between 8am and 5pm.
Two EVMs will be used in each booth- one to elect mayor/chairperson and the other for corporator and councillor.
For the first time, there will be a none-of-the-above (NOTA) option in the EVMs for voters. One presiding officer and four polling officers will be engaged in each booth.
In total, 22,000 polling officials have been deployed for the poll, the officials said. The state police have made adequate security arrangements for free, fair and peaceful elections.
As many as 100 platoons and 340 mobile patrolling parties along with district police officials have been deployed for 106 municipalities and NACs for the election.
Total 1,731 wards will go for a poll consisting of 3,068 booths.
Similarly, 105 platoons of force and 110 mobile patrolling parties along with police officers have been deployed for three municipal corporations (Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur) for smooth conduct of elections.
A total of 168 wards will go for the poll consisting of 1,407 booths in three municipal corporations.
Adequate security arrangements have been made in different strong rooms throughout the urban areas with CCTV coverage to ensure round the clock safety of EVMs, the police said.
The police have seized 24,663 litre liquor, 98 illegal arms, 3.444kg drugs, during the special drive launched in view of urban election.
The police have registered 1,377 excise cases and executed 480 pending warrants during the election process so far.
PNN