40-45 per cent polling in BMC polls

An estimated 45 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in the election for Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation today.
Of the 6,90,239 voters, 40-45 per cent have voted to decide the fate of 392 candidates in the fray, said State Election Commissioner (SEC) Ajit Kumar Tripathy.
The polling to elect 67 ward members of the BMC passed off peacefully barring some stray incidents, Tripathy said.
Complaints of proxy voting, group clash and other stray incidents were reported, he said.
Tension prevailed at Ward no 41 of Kharavel Nagar area in the morning following clashes between two groups. Police dispersed the mob by resorting to lathi-charge.

At least three persons were injured in the clash while four vehicles were damaged, Deputy Commissioner of Police Nitinjit Singh said.

Voting was suspended tehre for about half an hour as police took control of the booth to avoid any untoward incident and polling resumed only after the Police Commissioner arrived on the spot and discussed the matter with the group members.
Polling was also affected for nearly one hour at Biju Patnaik College in Nayapalli after some voters alleged that their votes had already been cast before they reached the booth. Some stray incidents were also witnessed in Saliasahi and Niladri Vihar area in the city.

Among prominent persons Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani, Kendrapara MP Bayjant Panda and others cast their votes in their respective wards.
As many as 35 platoons (about 1,100 personnel) of police force were deployed to maintain law and order during the voting process.
The counting of votes would be taken up tomorrow, SEC office said.