BELLARY: The fate of the contenders for the prestigious Bellary (ST) seat is likely to be known by noon on Sunday as the closely guarded electronic voting machines will be opened and counting will begin at 8 am at the Government Polytechnic.The district administration is geared up for the smooth conduct of counting for the byelection that was held on November 30.The political fortunes of major contenders P Gadilingappa (BJP), B Ramprasad (Congress) and B Sriramulu (Independent), would be eagerly awaited. Sriramulu, who seems confident of his victory over the BJP, feels that his opponent is the entire BJP party and not a single candidate. Gadilingappa, who is contesting for the first time, has the support of the Chief Minister, the BJP government and party president and hopes to win the election on the basis of the party’s development programmes. Congress candidate Ramprasad, who lost to Sriramulu in the last Assembly elections in 2008, hopes the rural voters would support him this time.Heavy police bandobast is in place at the Government Polytechnic College in Bellary, in view of counting. Three-tier security is in place at the counting centre, where each stage will be headed by DySP level officer, assisted by paramilitary forces and district police.People carrying arms and ammunitions and vehicles of candidates and their supporters will not be allowed within 200 metres of the counting centre. Sale of liquor in the district has been banned from the midnight of December 3 to the midnight of December 4. Police have been deployed in sensitive places in the city. Entry to the counting centre is restricted to the counting personnel, staff on duty and to those who possess passes. The entire process of counting of votes will be recorded.
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