Bhubaneswar: The result of the crucial Jharsuguda Assembly seat in Odisha will be declared on Saturday following counting of votes.
Counting of votes for the by-poll will begin at 8 a.m. at Jharsuguda Engineering School. Postal ballots will be counted first while EVM votes counting will start at 8.30 a.m., said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha, Nikunja Bihari Dhal here on Friday.
As Jharsuguda has been witnessing a high temperature during the past several days, the counting hall has been made air-conditioned. All other arrangements have been made for smooth counting of the votes, he said.
Counting will be conducted on 14 tables. As votes polled in 253 booths will be counted, so there will be 18 full rounds and another partial round, Dhal said.
The CEO informed that three-layer security arrangements have been made in and around the counting centre. Central armed police force, state armed police force and state police will provide the security during the counting.
Collector and returning officers will announce the round-wise results after counting of each round. It was expected that the counting would be completed between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., he added.
A total of 79.21 per cent votes was polled as 2.21 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the by-election held on May 10.
The by-poll was necessitated following the murder of sitting MLA and the then Health Minister Naba Kishore Das on January 29 this year.
Though there are nine candidates in the fray in the bypoll, the contest is mainly between the BJD, BJP and the Congress. The BJD has fielded Das’ daughter Deepali, while the BJP has nominated Tankadhar Tripathy. The Congress has fielded Tarun Pandey.
Now, all eyes are on the result, as it will show the strength of the three major political parties in Odisha ahead of the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
(IANS)