69% voter turnout in western Odisha ULB polls

The second phase elections of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) in nine districts of western Odisha ended today amid tight security even as most of the polling areas were identified as Naxal-infested.

By the end of the day, voting turnout was 69 per cent, said State Election Commission (SEC).

About 4.93 lakh voters cast their votes sealing the fate of 1,102 candidates in the electronic voting machines for 20 ULBS and 306 wards in the region. The election was held for nine municipalities and 11 NACs in Sambalpur, Sundergarh, Bargarh, Bolangir, Subarnapur, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi and Nuapada districts.

The counting will take place on Saturday. There were 301 Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidates, 240 Congress candidates and 268 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominees in the fray.

Kesinga ULB in Kalahandi district recorded highest turnout of voters (81 per cent) while Bhawanipatna in the same district reported lowest voter turnout (55 per cent), sources in SEC said.

Of the 20 ULBs which went to polls today, the BJP had formed councils in seven places followed by Congress in six places while the ruling BJD was at the helm in five urban bodies in the previous ULB polls in 2008.

The election commission took extra care to arrange security in sensitive polling stations anticipating attacks from Naxals. It had identified more than 40 per cent of 500 polling stations as prone to disturbances. Both Congress and BJP had put up a dismal show in the first phase of civic polls held on 19 September, with the ruling BJD winning 47 of the 66 ULBs. The SEC had to postpone polls in western Odisha due to opposition from lawyers and politicians, demanding establishment of a high court bench in the region. With the latest polls, voting ended for 86 ULBs out of 91 scheduled to go for polls this year.