All set for counting of votes at International Cricket Stadium in Doon today
Dehradun, 3 Jun: The Election Commission’s exercise for the counting of the votes to be held tomorrow is in full swing. Counting of votes cast in 10 assembly segments for the two Parliamentary Constituencies of Tehri and Haridwar will be held tomorrow at the International Cricket Stadium here.
Preparations are complete for the counting of the votes amid tight security. Four Central observers of the Election Commission of India have also reached Dehradun to oversee the counting of the votes. The counting will start at 8 a.m. and for the first thirty to forty minutes, the postal ballots will be counted following, which the counting of votes cast through the EVMs will begin. The results are expected by 2 p.m. Counting at the International Cricket Stadium here tomorrow is to be held for 7 assembly segments of Tehri Lok Sabha seats, namely Rajpur, Raipur, Chakrata, Vikasnagar, Sahaspur, Dehradun Cantt and Mussoorie and for 3 assembly segments of Haridwar Lok Sabha Constituency, namely Dharampur, Doiwala and Rishikesh.
It may be recalled that voting for the Parliamentary election in Uttarakhand was held on 19 April during the first phase of the elections. Most of the exit polls that were broadcast in the evening of 1 June after the polling was over for the seventh and the last phase of election, have claimed a 5-0 win for the BJP, though one or two exit polls claimed that Congress may win 1 seat. These polls claim a tight battle between the BJP and Congress in Pauri Garhwal constituency. However, most other exit polls claim that the BJP is likely to win all the five Lok Sabha seats of Uttarakhand.
In view of the Opposition party leaders from Congress apprehending that BJP may try to manipulate vote counting, the local intelligence agencies have indicated a possible ruckus outside the counting centre tomorrow. To deal with this, the Election Commission has augmented security arrangements today to ensure peaceful counting of votes. As part of this, rehearsal was done at the International Cricket Stadium today for the counting to be held tomorrow. During this, all the arrangements were checked. Along with this, all the employees were given training in view of the counting. Four observers have also reached Dehradun for the counting, who also inspected the counting centre themselves.
Dehradun’s District Magistrate and Returning Officer of Tehri Lok Sabha seat Sonika said that a strong room has been built in the stadium and counting will be done there. Counting of EVM votes of 10 assembly seats and total postal ballot votes of Tehri Lok Sabha will be done in the stadium. Along with this, she herself and all the AROs are inspecting and looking at the arrangements, she added.
Sonika added that more than 550 counting officers have been deployed for the counting. In all, 14 tables have been placed for EVMs in the stadium. Also, 40 tables each have been set up for counting postal ballots. Apart from this, 4 observers have been appointed for 10 assembly seats. More than 550 counting officers have been deployed. People from other departments have also been deployed for various duties.
She also made it clear that permission will have to be taken for victory processions. No political party will be allowed to enter the 100 metres perimeter at the Counting Centre and prohibitory orders under Section 144 will also remain in force to prevent any untoward incident. A meeting in this regard has already been held with the political parties. Everyone was informed that Section 144 is applicable. If any political party takes out a victory procession, then permission will have to be taken from the administration before that.
