In Odisha, all preparations have been completed for counting of votes of all the 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly constituencies tomorrow. The Election Commission has ensured meticulous and secure procedures across the 168 counting centres in the state. A robust three-tier security apparatus envelops the 69 strongrooms housing the EVMs and VVPAT devices. These strongrooms, fortified with stringent measures, are closely monitored through CCTV surveillance, complemented by the presence of 25 companies of Central Armed Police Forces and continuous police patrolling. The Election Commission has underscored the imperative of upholding post-election law and order in Odisha. Over 70 Central Armed Police Forces companies are slated for deployment until Thursday.
As the state is going for counting of votes simultaneously for both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, it will be interesting to see if BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is going to make history in Indian politics by winning his Hinjili Assembly constituency for six consecutive times and becoming the Chief Minister of a state for sixth consecutive terms or he is going to the books of history as the longest serving Chief Minister of Odisha.
The fate of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, national vice president of BJP Baijayant Panda, senior BJP leaders Jual Oram, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Sambit Patra and Aparajita Sarangi and former Union Minister Srikant Kumar Jena of Congress, BJD organisation general secretary Pranab Prakash Dash will be decided in the counting for Lok Sabha polls tomorrow, while the fate of senior BJD leaders Prasanna Acharya, Prafulla Mallick, senior Congress leaders Niranjan Patnaik, Jaydeb Jena, Sarat Patnaik and Bijay Kumar Patnaik will be decided in the Assembly polls counting.
