Counting of votes for Kolibera by-polls on Sunday

Simdega: Counting of votes will be held on Sunday for the by-polls to the Kolibera seat of the Jharkhand Assembly voting of which was held on December 20. A total of 14 tables have been made for counting which is expected to last till 19 rounds. In wake of the counting of the votes the district administration had made elaborate security arrangements and has also completed all the necessary preparations to ensure hassle free counting of votes

The contestants whose fortunes would be decided tomorrow included Menan Ekka of the Jharkhand Party, Basant Soreng of BJP, Naman Vixcel Kongadi of the Congress, Anil Kandulna of Sengel Party and Basant Dungdung (Independent).Despite being a multi cornered contest the main battle is between the Menan Ekka and Vixcel Kongadi of the Congress party. In the by-polls the JMM and the RJD had supported Ms Ekka while JVM(P) and the left had bagged the Congress nominee.

The by-polls to the seat was necessitated after Kolibera MLA and former Minister lost the membership of the house after a Simdega court on July 3 awarded him life imprisonment in connection with the murder of a para teacher Manoj Kumar. The new MLA elected from the seat will have tenure of just one year as Vidhan Sabha polls are due in Jharkhand in November-December 2019. This is for the second time after a gap of 33 years that the by-polls are being held in Kolibera.