The counting of Assembly votes has begun in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for the counting. Polling was held in two phases in Chhattisgarh, while Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Delhi went to polls in a single phase. Counting of votes in Mizoram will be taken up tomorrow. The polling process came to an end on Wednesday.
In Delhi, 810 candidates are in the fray for 70 seats. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is seeking a record fourth term from the New Delhi constituency, where she is facing a tough battle from Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal and BJP leader Vijendra Gupta. BJP Chief Ministerial candidate Dr. Harshvardhan is seeking his fifth term from the Krishna Nagar seat. About 66 per cent polling was recorded in the polls on Wednesday.
In Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, State BJP President Vasundhara Raje and Chairperson of the National Women Commission Mamta Sharma are the prominent candidates. 2,087 candidates are in the fray. Our correspondent reports that 75 per cent votes were cast in 199 constituencies, which went to the polls on the 1st of this month.
In Madhya Pradesh, tight security arrangements have been made in all the 51 district headquarters. The entire counting process will be video-graphed. Over 70 per cent polling was recorded in the state on the 25th of last month. Heavy security is in place at all the across the state. The counting of votes of all the 230 assembly segments is being done in 324 halls. 3,755 tables are being used for counting of votes. Our correspondent reports, apart from district police units, 30 companies of Special Armed Forces and Rapid Action Forces have been deployed.
In Chhattisgarh, elaborate security arrangements have been made, especially in the Maoist affected areas. Our Raipur correspondent reports that the State Election Commission has directed to count postal ballots along with the counting of votes polled, through EVMs. In the 90-member state assembly, 77 per cent votes were polled. More from our correspondent:
Over 81 per cent polling was recorded in 40 constituencies of Mizoram. The state went to the polls on the 25th of last month.
