Bhubaneswar: The fate of 15 candidates who contested by-elections to Balasore Sadar and Tirtol constituencies held November 3 will be decided Tuesday as counting of votes began at 8.00am.
Counting of votes for the Balasore Sadar constituency is going on at the Balasore Collectorate, while counting for the Tirtol assembly constituency is proceeding at the SVM College premises, Jagatsinghpur. The counting of votes is going on with strict adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines. It is learnt that the counting started with postal ballot.
Three-tier security has been arranged at the counting venues with the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel guarding the inner circle, Jawans of the Odisha State Armed Police (OSAP) guarding the middle tier and the local police being in charge of the outer cordon. In each of the two venues, counting is learnt to be going on simultaneously at seven tables in two halls, he said.
Three counting halls have been set up in each of the centres. By-elections in the two constituencies were held November 3, following the demise of BJP MLA Madan Mohan Dutta in Balasore and BJD legislator Bishnu Charan Das in Tirtol.
In view of the pandemic, special arrangements have been made for counting of votes at both the centres.
PNN