Poll for ‘Bird of Wardha’ in Limca Book of Records

Nagpur: The elections held on June 23, 2018 to decide ‘Bird of Wardha’ has made it to the Limca Book of Records.
A joint initiative by Wardha Municipal Council and NGO Bahar Nature Foundation, Wardha was the second city after Sawantwadi in Konkan to hold polls to choose ‘bird of city’. Sawantwadi held the polls in 2017.
Wardha’s honorary wildlife warden Sanjay Ingle Tigaonkar said, “In a certificate issued in December but received by the NGO on Wednesday, Vatsala Kaul Banerjee, editor of the Limca Book of Records, applauded the unique election.”
By garnering 58% votes, Indian Roller, popularly called as ‘Nilpankh’, had won the race for ‘Bird of Wardha’ by a thumping majority defeating its nearest rival White Breasted Kingfisher by a margin of over 21,400 votes.
In all, 51,267 people cast ballot in the polls that started on June 23 and closed on August 15. Of the total votes, 47,646 votes were polled through ballot while remaining 3,621 votes were cast online by Wardha residents staying abroad.
Of the five candidate-birds — Coppersmith Barbet, White Breasted Kingfisher, Spotted Owlet, Indian Roller, and Black Shoulder Kite — Nilpankh emerged winner. The 54-day election exercise had generated lot of interest not only among local residents but also nature lovers from entire Maharashtra.