Counting of votes begins in Kandhamal

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Oct 19: Counting of votes polled on October 15 for the by-election in communally sensitive Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha has begun this morning.The Biju Janata Dal is likely to win the seat as the party had won with an impressive margin in the election held earlier this year.Adequate security arrangements have been made for the counting of votes which is being held at five places.Around 62.71 per cent voters had cast their votes in the by-election.The Maoist-hit Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven Assembly segments of Phulbani, Baliguda, G.Udayagiri, Boudh, Kantamal, Daspalla and Bhanjanagar.A total of seven candidates are in the fray in the by-election, but a fierce triangular contest was seen involving Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh of the BJD, Abhimanyu Behera of the Congress and Rudra Madhab Ray of the Bharatiya Janata Party.The election was necessitated following untimely death of BJD MP Hemendra Chandra Singh.