Nuapada, Nov 14: Counting of votes of the Nuapada byelection conducted on November 11, is underway amid tough security on Friday.

By 10.20 am at least 5 rounds of counting were successfully conducted.

By the end of the 5th Round Counting, BJP candidate Jay Dholakia bagged 18,322 votes beating back BJD candidate Snehangini Chhuria. Chhuria by the end of the 5th Round counting secured 6,538 votes whereas Congress candidate Ghasiram Majhi got 6,797 votes in total. With it, Majhi came to the second position leaving the BJD nominee Chhuria behind.

Counting of votes has begun at Nuapada National College under the supervision of the Odisha Electoral authorities and Nuapada district administration.

According to the schedule, counting of votes will be conducted in 26 rounds. As many as 14 desks have been set up to accommodate the counting process for the votes procured from 358 polling booths.

Security arrangements have also been tightened in and around the counting centre to tackle unforeseen incidents near the counting center.

According to sources, vote counting began from ballot counts following which the EVMs were unwrapped for counting.

Worth mentioning, polling for the Nuapada 71 Assembly Constituency in Odisha was conduced on November 11. As many as 14 candidates are in the fray aspiring the coveted seat.