The stage is set for counting of votes on Friday for the simultaneous elections in 21 lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats in the State as the outcome would define the political contours for ruling BJD and the Opposition political parties, especially the BJP and the Congress.
The electoral fate of a total of 1,616 candidates, including 196 for lok Sabha and 1,420 for State Assembly, will be decided as the counting will take place at 64 centers amid a three-tier security cover. Special security arrangement has been put in place in the counting centers spread over the Maoist- affected districts.
Chief Electoral Office (CEO) sources said while the counting will commence at 8 am, it is likely to continue till 5 pm. As many as 12,000 employees have been pressed into service for counting spread over 159 halls in the State and the result is expected to come from afternoon. The trend of the results would be available by 11 am, it said, adding the final picture could emerge on who would be a major player in Odisha for the lok Sabha and in the State Assembly after completion of 30 to 35 rounds of counting.
Counting of postal ballots would be taken up in the first phase for half an hour followed by EVMs later .The authority, as a precautionary measure, put up barricade within 100 metres radius of each counting hall to ensure a smooth counting and avoid any untoward problem. As many as 40,000 postal ballots have been cast during the two phases of polling in the State.
The CEO sources said that each counting table will have a micro observer to monitor the counting process and after each round of counting, the result sheet will be provided to the candidates or their agents. As many as 83 general observers have been deployed to oversee the process.
As many as 172 platoons of State police in addition to the Central police forces would be deployed near the counting halls to ensure safety and security, it informed.
The counting will decide the fate of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik whose BJD is all set to retain power for the fourth time in a row, creating a record in the political history of the State.
Prominent among the leaders from BJD whose electoral fortunes would be decided are Speaker of Odisha Assembly PK Amat, Rajya Sabha MP and former Indian Hockey captain Dillip Tirkey from Sundergarh lok Sabha seat, Rajya Sabha MP Rabi Narayan Mohapatra from Ranpur Assembly seat, Finance Minister Prasanna Acharya, Health Minister Dr Damodar Rout, law Minister Maheswar Mohanty and Puri MP Pinaki Mishra, among others.
Similarly, fate of prominent BJP candidates such as Dilip Ray, Jual Oram, BJP State president KV Singh Deo, Manmohan Samal and Bijoy Mohapatra, among others, would be decided.
Prominent political leaders from Congress whose electoral fortunes will be known include Union Minister Srikant Jena from Baleswar lok Sabha seat, two former Congress Chief Ministers, Giridhar Gamang and Hemananda Biswal, who have contested the Koraput and Sundargarh lok Sabha seats, respectively, former Union Ministers Bhakta Charan Das (Kalahandi lok Sabha seat) and Chandra Sekhar Sahu (Brahmapur lok Sabha seat).