Bhubaneswar, May 13:Counting of votes for the by-election to Odisha's Jharsuguda assembly seat began at 8 am on Saturday amid tight security arrangements, an official said. Though there were nine candidates in the fray, the contest was restricted to three nominees - Deepali Das of the ruling BJD, Tarun Pandey of the Congress and Tankadhar Tripathy (BJP). Jharsuguda, Sohiong By-Elections 2023 Results Live News Updates.

The outcome of the by-poll will not have any impact on the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government headed by Naveen Patnaik, as the party enjoys a comfortable majority. Altogether, 79.21 per cent of 2.21 lakh voters had exercised their franchise on March 10. The by-poll was held following the assassination of health minister Naba Kisore Das on January 29 allegedly by a police officer.

“All arrangements are in place for the counting of votes at the Engineering School premises in Jharsuguda. There will be 18 complete rounds and one partial round. Postal ballots will be counted first,” Chief Electoral Officer Nikunja Bihari Dhal had said on Friday. Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023 Live News Updates.

In the 147-member Odisha Assembly, the BJD has 113 members, the opposition BJP and Congress have 22 and nine MLAs, respectively. The CPI(M) has one member and there is one Independent legislator.

(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)