Odisha: Counting of votes for Jharsuguda by-poll begins

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).

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 May 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.

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.

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