BJD rules at Top during counting

Bhubaneswar: On Saturday, counting of ballots for 315 Zilla Parishad zones in Odisha's three-tier Panchayat elections began at 8 a.m. in various block headquarters under heavy security.

On February 27 and 28, the 307 and 229 Zilla Parishad zones will be counted, respectively.

There were 2.2 lakh candidates in the race, with the State Election Commission (SEC) declaring 36,523 ward members, 126 Sarpanchs, 326 Samiti members, and one Zilla Parishad member as uncontested winners.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was optimistic of a resounding victory on Friday, while the BJP hoped to improve on its 2017 showing. With 200 seats, the Congress was anticipated to reclaim second place.

If there is a discrepancy between the ballot paper account and the actual ballot papers found in the ballot boxes, polling authorities will use a marked copy of the electoral roll and the presiding officers' notebook to verify the accuracy. The State Election Commission stated on Friday that if the number of ballot papers is greater than the total number of voters in a given ward, the counting of votes in that ward would be delayed and the matter will be sent to the commission for a decision.

The five-phase election ended on February 24 with an aggregate voter turnout of 78.6%, slightly higher than the previous year's 78.03 percent. The outcome of the following two days will set the tone for the March 24 urban polls.

The latest trends received from all 315 ZP zones:

BJD – 263

BJP – 29

Congress – 17

Others- 6