India News | Brajrajnagar By-poll Vote Counting Amid Tight Security on Friday: CEO

Bhubaneswar, Jun 2 (PTI) Odisha's Chief Electoral Officer, SK Lohani Thursday said the counting of votes in the Brajrajnagar by-poll held on May 31, will be taken up on Friday amid tight security.

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As many as 71.53 per cent (1,53,716) of the 2,14,878 eligible voters have exercised their franchise in the by-poll held following the death of BJD MLA Kishore Mohanty in December 2021.

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He said counting of votes will start at the Jharsuguda Engineering College at 8 am. A total of 20 rounds of counting will be held, the CEO said.

The EVM vote counts will be taken up after counting of postal ballots. There will be 14 counting tables with three staff to each table. In all there will be 60 counting personnel, Lohani said.

The CEO said the cndidates will be allowed to engage agents to supervise the counting process. A counting assistant, a counting supervisor and a micro observer will be allotted to each table, he said.

Results will be announced after each round of counting Lohani said, adding that the counting process is expected to be over by around 3 PM.

The CEO said a three-tier security arrangement comprising CRPF, State Armed Police and District Executive Force will be in place at the counting centre, Jharsuguda SP Rahul Jain said.

There are 11 candidates in the fray but the real contest will be a triangular one among BJD candidate Alka Mohanty (wife of late BJD MLA Kishore Mohanty), BJP nominee Radharani Panda and Congress candidate Kishore Patel.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)