Polling for urban local bodies begins in Odisha

State election commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi said 22,000 officials have been deployed for the electoral process

Published on: Mar 24, 2022, 10:02:57 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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BHUBANESWAR: The polling to elect 1,899 councillors, 106 chairpersons, and mayors for 109 urban local bodies, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Berhampur municipal corporations, in Odisha began on Thursday morning.

Over four million voters are eligible to vote across 4,475 booths between 8 am and 5 pm. (HT PHOTO)

Over four million voters are eligible to vote across 4,475 booths between 8 am and 5 pm. Voting machine glitches were reported from Bhubaneswar and Nuapada as the polling began. Polling was delayed at three booths in Bhubaneswar and one in Nuapada.

State election commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi said 22,000 officials have been deployed for the electoral process. The results will be announced on Saturday as direct elections are being held for the first time for the posts of chairpersons and mayors.

“As many as 195 platoons of the police...have been deployed... At least 30 platoons have been deployed in Bhubaneswar... Similarly, 20 and 10 platoons... in Cuttack and Berhampur... mobile squads will be operating in different areas,” said Padhi.

The polls have been due since December 2018 and July 2019. They were first delayed after a plea was filed in the Orissa high court in 2018 alleging the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes exceeded 50% in 2012, 2017 panchayat elections, and 2013 civic polls in violation of a Supreme Court order.

The high court in 2018 directed the government that reserved seats should not exceed the cap in the non-scheduled areas. The state government in September 2018 moved the Supreme Court, which rejected its appeal. A special leave petition was also rejected in January 2019 as the Supreme Court asked the government to abide by the high court directive. The election process was later delayed due to the Covid pandemic.

Alleged pre-poll violence was reported from Balasore, where a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter suffered injuries after he was allegedly stabbed on Wednesday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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