Insight Bureau:  Polling for the much-awaited Odisha Urban Local Bodies (ULB) polls has begun at 8 AM on Thursday and will continue till 5 PM.

Over 40.55 lakh voters will cast their votes for 106 (47 Municipalities & 59 NACs) and 3 Municipal Corporations of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur Municipal Corporation in the State.

As many as 2989 booths have been set up. Around 22,000 polling personnel have been engaged for the election.

As many as 6,411 candidates are in the fray for election. While 569 candidates are contesting for the posts of Chairperson/Mayor, 5,842 candidates are there for the election to Councillor/Corporator seats. The results will be declared on March 26.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik casts his vote for the urban local body elections this morning. The Chief Minister cast his vote at a polling booth at Aerodrome UP School in Ward Number 53 in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

BJD’s Organisational Secretary, Jajpur MLA Pranab Prakash Das and BJD’s Mayor Candidate Sulochana Das also cast their vote.