Bhubaneswar: Ruling Biju Janata Dal candidate Alaka Mohanty Friday registered an early lead over her BJP rival in the first round of counting of votes in the Brajrajnagar Assembly by-election, polling for which was held May 31.
The counting of votes started at 8 AM at the Jharsuguda Engineering College. A total of 20 rounds of counting will be held, Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), S K Lohani said.
According to the officials, BJD’s Alaka Mohanty secured 4,733 votes in the first round of counting followed by BJP candidate Radharani Panda with 1,144 votes and Congress nominee getting 1,014 votes. There are a total of 11 candidates in the fray, they said.
The by-election was held following the death of sitting BJD MLA Kishore Mohanty in December 2021.
The EVM vote counting was taken up after the counting of postal ballots.
The official said the counting process is expected to be over by around 3 pm.
A three-tier security arrangement comprising CRPF, State Armed Police and District Executive Force is in place at the counting centre, Jharsuguda SP Rahul Jain said.
