Puri: BJD candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy was leading in the Pipili by-election by 5,140 votes over his nearest rival Ashrit Pattanayak of the BJP till the end of the fourth round of counting Sunday, the Election Commission said.
Maharathy secured 16,968 votes, while Pattanayak bagged 11,828 votes, and Congress nominee Biswokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra got 1,382 votes.
Of the 30,913 votes counted till the end of the fourth round, 184 people have chosen the NOTA (none of the above) option, it said.
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Notably, counting process is underway at Penthakata centre in Puri. As many as 62 persons have been engaged for the counting of votes. A total of 25 rounds will be carried out in the process.
The Pipili Assembly constituency had recorded 78.25 per cent polling during the by-poll September 30.
Ten candidates are in the fray for the by-poll which was either countermanded or deferred thrice before September 30. The by-election was necessitated by the death of sitting BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy in October last year.
PNN & Agencies