Polling for Councillors and Chairpersons for Hindol NAC in Dhenkanal district and Attabira in Bargarh district, started on Monday morning with a large turnout of voters. Voters were seen making a beeline outside the booths much before 8 am. The polling began at 8 am in the morning and will continue till 5 pm.
At least 13,000 voters will determine the fate of 38 candidates for a total of 12 wards in Attabira NAC. 13 booths have been set up in the 12 wards of the NAC for the smooth conduct of the polling. This is the second NAC election in Attabira after its NAC status on April 3, 2012.
Similarly, a total of 9863 voters will determine the fate of 53 candidates for 16 wards in Hindol NAC. The polling is underway in 16 booths with separate booths in three wards for women voters.
Several platoons of police have been deployed to take the EVMs to the NAC office after the polling is over. The EVMs will be taken with tight security and kept inside the strong room under the close watch of the police.
The counting of the votes will begin on April 5 followed by the declaration of the result. Moreover, the vice-chairperson election (Indirect) will be held on April 19.
When contacted Sushant Mishra, the magistrate-in-duty of Hindol NAC said, “The polling began on time and is underway smoothly as per the guidelines of the Election Commission and the District Collector. Voters are following all the procedures and the voting will continue till 5 pm.”
Similarly, Dhenkanal SP said, “The voting began at 8 am in the morning. Our effort is to conduct the voting in a peaceful manner and elaborate arrangements have been made. There has been not a single report of any kind of violence during voting. The flow of the voters is also more and will continue till 11 am.”
“I believe people of our area will choose the right candidate who will be the support system for development in our area. Youngsters also want the right candidate to win the election who will work for the overall development and be a leader for all,” said a voter.
(Reported by Deepak Sharma, Rajashree Satpathy, OTV)