Unprecedented security for counting of votes in UP: Counting centres turn into fortress
Lucknow, : With exit polls predicting a tough contest between the BJP and the SP-BSP alliance, all eyes are on counting of votes in Uttar Pradesh in 80 Lok Sabha seats.
The counting of votes will start at 0800 hours on Thursday and it will continue till the announcement of the results.
Unprecedented security have been made at the polling centers and in the sensitive districts with 200 companies of central para military forces and 100 companies of PAC along with over 2 lakh district police would be deployed to maintain law and order.
All the counting centres have already turned a fortress and security personnel have taken the charge with allowing only the people having valid pass to enter it.
Though Election Commission has strictly banned victory procession and other celebrations in the state and all the district authorities have clamped section 144 of the CrPC to prevent anti-social elements to create nuisance, but still the authorities are leaving no stone unturned in the security matter.
Liquor shops will also be closed for the entire counting day.
State DG police (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said here on Wednesday that three tier security system would be in place at the counting centres where no one without valid passes would be allowed to enter.
He admitted that apprehending post counting violence, appropriate security have been in 13 sensitive districts besides adequate central forces and PAC have been deployed to maintain law and Order.
Along with 80 Lok Sabha seats, results of two assembly bypolls- Nighasan in Kheri district and Agra (north) would also be counted.
State Chief Electoral Officer(CEO) vekenteshwar Lu said here on Wednesday that all arrangements for smooth conduct of the counting have been completed. “We have given training to the counting personnel and they have been asked to follow the all rules and regulations strictly,” he said.
The CEO said that the trends would be available after completion of entire round of counting while the results would be declared after getting approval from the Commission.
“The results would be late this time as 5 booths in each of the assembly segments of a Lok Sabha constituency would be examined with the VVPAT slips,” he added.
Each lok Sabha constituency in UP has 5 assembly segments and hence 25 booths in each Lok Sabha constituency would be selected through lottery for VVPAT slip checking as per the EC’s direction.
In UP all the 75 districts would have counting centres but in some districts, counting of votes would be done for two Lok Sabha seats. In Lucknow, counting would be done for Lucknow and Mohanlalganj seats, in Agra– Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, in Bareilly — Bareilly and Aonla, in Kheri- Kheri and Dhaurarha, in Hardoi– Hardoi and Mishrikh and in Prayagraj– Allahabad and Phulpur.
Besides, this counting of votes for Kaiserganj seat will be held in Gonda-Bahriach, of Doomaraiganj in Sidharthnagar, of Basgaon in Gorakhpur, Lalganj in Azamgarh, of Ghosi in Mau, Salempur in Deoria and Machilishahr in Jaunpur.
According to EC sources, in each assembly segment there would be 15 tables where 14 tables would be used for counting and one for cross checking the votes. The counting of votes and checking it with the VVPAT slips in five booths would be done at the end while at first the postal ballots would be taken up for counting.
“This time counting of postal ballot will take more time as the polling personnel will have to record it with the bar code of the ballot,” sources said.
Sources said that if required on the request of the counting agents, recounting of votes can be ordered by the returning officer and the central observers of a particular booth. However, sources said votes of each round would be checked at least three times before the polling agents of all political parties before being announced in public.
“The counting of VVPAT slips would be done in the last after counting all the votes and if there is any difference of votes in EVMs and VVPAT slips, then the voting recorded in the VVPAT would be final,” sources said.
UP went for 7 phase polling covering all the 80 Lok Sabha seats where around 58 per cent of the total 14.76 crore voters exercised their franchise. The polling was totally peaceful with most of the seats went for a triangular contest between BJP, the opposition alliance of SP-BSP-RLD and the Congress.
Tension also brewed UP in some places after rumour of mishandling of the EVMs but EC had denied any such incident.
UNI.