BHUBANESWAR: Counting of votes began to determine the fate of 207 MP and 1285 MLA candidates, vying for 21 Lok Sabha and 147 assembly seats in Odisha. Early trends indicated that BJP’s Bargarh Lok Sabha nominee Pradeep Purohit and BJD‘s Jharsuguda candidate Dipali Das took leads in their respective seats.
Dipali is the daughter of former minister Naba Kishore Das, who was shot dead by a police officer in Odisha on January 29, 2023.
More than 2.5 crore votes that were cast by 74.44 per cent electorates in four-phase elections in Odisha on May 13, 20, 25 and June 1, are being counted.
More than 30 rounds of counting will take place for eight assembly constituencies—Rairangpur, Saraskana, Aul, Chitrakonda, Patkura, Bissam Cuttack, Loisingha and Mohana. Votes in the remaining 139 assembly segments will be counted for less than 30 rounds.

Director general of police Arun Kumar Sarangi said a 3-tier security arrangement has been made at each counting location for peaceful and flawless counting of votes as per the instructions of the ECI.
“We have made all the necessary arrangements for smooth counting of votes. The required security deployment has been made. Altogether 1799 tables to count the votes of assembly election and 1790 tables for Lok Sabha polls are being used. Trained personnel are ready for the counting of votes in the presence of ECI observers,” chief electoral officer Nikunja Bihari Dhal said.
The poll season was marked by a no-holds-barred contest between the BJD and BJP after their alliance talks collapsed in March. The political climate heated up during the summer, with a series of visits by prominent BJP leaders, including PM Narendra Modi, their scathing attacks on chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his close aide V K Pandian on several issues including ‘Odia Asmita (identity)’ and Ratna Bhandar, and the BJD’s counter-attacks.
Naveen Patnaik-led BJD is eyeing to retain office for record sixth successive terms, while the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to halt the regional party’s winning juggernaut.