Malda, April 15: The counting of votes for the Kharba Assembly by-election will begin at 8am tomorrow. The result is expected by 1pm.

The Chanchol subdivisional officer, Debashis Sarkar, who is also the returning officer, said the counting of votes would begin at the Siddeswari High School. Forty para-military personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force and the BSF would man the counting centre. Metal detector frames and 150 men from the state armed police would also throw a security ring around the venue, he added.

The by-election which was held on April 12 was necessitated by Congress MLA Mahabubul Haque’s death.

The Malda district police chief, Satyajit Bandyopadhyay, said two barricades would be set up at Chanchol College, which is near the counting centre, and at the school to keep crowds away. “We will allow people with valid identity cards issued by the Election Commission to enter the venue. But no one will be permitted to carry mobile phones inside.”

According to Chittaranjan Das, the district magistrate, counting will be done on 14 tables divided among two classrooms. “Three counting personnel and the representatives of the contesting parties will be posted at each table,” Das said.

The speculation on the possible outcome of the by-election has generated a lot of excitement between the two major contestants — the Congress and CPM.

Congress leaders believe that they will retain the seat, though the winning margin might be lower than last time. In the 2006 Assembly elections, Congress’s Haque had defeated his CPM rival Anjumanara Bibi by just over 10,000 votes. In the by-election this time, Haque’s son Asif Mehboob has been pitted against Anjumanara again.

The CPM depends on intra-party rivalry that developed within the Congress before the by-election to wrest the seat from the rival.

The supporters of both the parties were seen stocking up on red and green colour to celebrate.