TNI Bureau: The counting of votes for Padampur Assembly Constituency in Bargarh district began at 8 am today.

As per the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sushil Kumar Lohani, postal ballots will be counted first.

Votes polled in 319 booths will be counted in 14 tables in each round.

There will be 23 rounds of counting for the by-poll.

Entire 100 meters zone around the counting centre will be declared as a pedestrian zone.

Round wise results will be disseminated to the public through ECI website – results.eci.gov.in.

It is pertinent to mention here that over 81.29% of 2.57 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the by-election to the Padampur Assembly constituency.

The BJD has nominated Barsha Singh Bariha, daughter of late MLA Bijaya Ranjan Singh Bariha, whose death necessitated the bypoll.

While the BJP has nominated Pradip Purohit, Congress fielded three-time MLA Satya Bhusan Sahu.