Candidates in the fray in Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls tried to woo voters on Wednesday giving personal touch to canvassing a day after campaigning drew to a close officially.

Some contestants urged residents to vote for them over telephone. A few tried to connect with the electorate asking if they were aware of their booth numbers and had polling station slips. A handful of others visited temples seeking divine intervention to win.

Of the 72 wards of the PMC, polling would be conducted in 70 wards on Thursday. Election in ward number 39 is slated for May 22. Standing deputy mayor Vinay Kumar Pappu has been elected unopposed from ward number 28.

Most of the candidates stayed put in their poll office in their respective wards on the eve of the elections and kept calling up voters, urging them to vote for them.

A contender from ward number 2 said: “As reaching out to voters individually is important, I am contacting people in my ward over phone and requesting them to vote for me. Besides, I am making arrangements for booth management. It includes arranging tables and chairs for different poling stations in my ward.”

In ward number 4, a lady candidate was busy convening small meetings in different colonies. She interacted with small groups throughout the day. Many of her supporters were also out in the field to reach out to voters.

A heavyweight candidate spent the poll eve ensuring all the voters in his ward received polling station slips by Wednesday evening.

He said: “It is a kind of invitation to citizens to come and vote for me. Many families have still not got the polling booth slips. I have been distributing the slips from my office. My followers are also going to the voters’ doorsteps to distribute the slips.”

Some candidates were spotted praying at temples. Pratima Devi, a candidate in ward number 31, spent the morning in a temple near her residence. A number of other candidates queued up at Hanuman temple near the railway station in the morning.

Patna district magistrate in-charge Manoj Kumar and (right) senior superintendent of police Amrit Raj at a news meet on the civic polls at Bankipore Girls High School on Wednesday. There would be tight security in Patna on Thursday to prevent incidents of violence. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

“The PMC poll candidates and their supporters have been thronging the temple for the past several days but their numbers are very high today (Wednesday),” said a priest at the temple.

A number of contestants claimed that extensive campaign in the extremely hot weather had taken a toll on their health. They were now looking for a few peaceful days after the elections.

“While moving around for campaigning, I have been sipping soft drinks to beat the heat. Now, I have a sore throat. I am just waiting for the poll to end. Thereafter, I will relax for a while before the counting on May 19 — another stressful day,” said Uma Sharma, a contestant from the Kankerbagh area.

While the contenders were busy wooing voters and the gods on the eve of the polls, the administrative officers and police were making arrangements for peaceful elections.

“The entire corporation area has been divided into eight super zones, 29 zones and 131 sectors. While additional district magistrate and deputy superintendent of police-rank officers will oversee super zones, senior deputy collectors and station house officers will patrol the zones. Block-level officials and junior policemen will be deputed in all the sectors to oversee the poll process,” said the district magistrate in charge, Manoj Kumar.

Senior superintendent of police Amrit Raj said so far seven cases of violations of model code of conduct had been registered and investigations were on in all the cases.

Of the total 1,174 polling booths, as many as 870 have been identified as highly sensitive. Another 231 have been earmarked as sensitive by the district administration.

“We will have a large number of static forces stationed at two places in the city to deal with any emergency situation. They will be able to reach any booth in the city within 15 minutes,” Kumar said.