Bhubaneswar: The counting for the much talked about Patkura Assembly elections will be held Wednesday and the result is likely to be declared by 2pm.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had fielded former MLA Bed Prakash Agarwalla’s widow Sabitri Devi while Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) senior leader Bijoy Mohapatra contested for the seat. Congress had nominated Jayant Mohanty for the seat.
While BJD and BJP staked their claim to win the seat, Congress conceded defeat before the counting day.
Senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra said, “Our candidate Sabitri Agarwalla will win the seat with a huge margin of votes because we have already gauged the mood of the voters of the three blocks. The people of Patkura have cast their votes in favour of Naveen Patnaik’s leadership, Patkura’s development and as mark of homage to late Bed Babu.”
Similarly, BJP leader Pradipta Kumar Naik exuded confidence to win the seat. The Leader of Opposition in Assembly said, “We’re quite confident that BJP will win even with a wafer margin of 100-200 votes. Naveen Babu might have tried a lot expecting to win with a huge margin of 20,000-30,000 votes, but it will all fail.”
However, senior Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati has admitted defeat in the poll.
“Congress has fought the poll. Our poll analysis reveals that we are on the weak wicket as we haven’t spent a single pie. So, there may be a chance of defeat,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kendrapara Collector Samarth Verma said the counting of votes will begin at Kendrapara Autonomous College at 8 am. “There will be 18 counting tables and the process will end in 17 rounds. We expect the results to come up by 2 pm,” he added.
He said three-tier security arrangements have been put in place in the strong rooms where the EVMs have been stored for the smooth counting of votes. Sufficient police and Central paramilitary forces have been deployed in and around the premises.
Besides, CCTV cameras have been installed to keep watch against trespassers. The district administration has also clamped prohibitory order around the counting centre premises.