Bhubaneswar, May 23: Three candidates representing major political parties and an Independent will contest tomorrow’s bypoll for ward No. 19, which was described by a BJD councillor as a “do-or-die” election for the party.

Authorities of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, under the direction of the State Election Commission, have sent 14 polling teams to manage an equal number of booths.

Seventy persons were sourced from different departments including one police personnel for each polling booth. Moreover, a patrolling team of 16 cops will also be deployed in the ward to ensure smooth elections.

Bhubaneswar additional district magistrate Manoj Kumar Patnaik, who is the election officer designated by the commission, said: “So far the process remains peaceful... We hope the electioneering would be a smooth affair.”

There are 15,132 voters in the ward, which comprises N-1, N-2, N-3 and N-4 colonies of Nayapalli, Reserve Bank of India colony and areas around the Iskcon temple. Five slum pockets are also part of it.

Poll officials said 3,843 people voted during the last civic polls. But this time, since the by-election has become a prestige issue for the ruling party and the Opposition, the turnout may double.

The polls will be conducted between 8am and 5pm and electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used. The counting will be held on May 25 and the results will be out between 12 and 12.30pm, said the election officer.

Sources said 14 EVMs had already been distributed and the poll officials were keeping at least three machines as standby.

With less than 24 hours to go before the voting begins, the candidates and their supporters are trying to garner as much support as possible.

Though the winning candidate will not be exercising her power for long because civic polls are due around the end of the year, the election assumes significance since the ruling party had a lacklustre run in the polls held in three newly-formed notified area councils in western Odisha last month.

The BJD has asked all its councillors to actively take part in the poll process.

“This is a do-or-die situation for us because the results of this poll is likely to influence the upcoming civic poll. We not only seek to win it, but also want to win with a considerable margin to prove that the party still has the hold in the corporation,” said a councillor.

On the other hand, the focus has shifted towards the voters living in the slums because they are a sizable population. Sources said around 1,000 voters living in five slums could be the possible game-changers.

The voters have been demanding that local issues, including street-lighting and clearing of garbage, be addressed by the victorious candidate.

“We have been demanding better sanitation because in most cases, the private contractor engaged to clear garbage fails to do it on time. Also, the existing street-lights are not sufficient for our locality,” said Pitabas Pradhan, a local resident.