Voting in the 26 wards of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation ended smoothly on Saturday with nearly 45 percent polling, election officials said here. The polling percentage was almost the same as in the last election in 2006, the officials said.

"The voting was higher in polling stations in colonies and rural areas of the UT," an election official said. Polling began at 452 booths across the 114 square km union territory at 8 a.m. to decide the fate of 152 candidates. There are nearly 500,000 voters in the city.

The 36-member municipal corporation house comprises 26 elected councillors, nine nominated councillors and the local MP. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is the Chandigarh MP. Tight security arrangements were made by the police for the polling. Over 4,300 police personnel manned the city and polling booths.