34 Centres Set Up For Lok Sabha Election Counting In Telangana

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj today said that tight security arrangements had been made for the counting of the votes of the Lok Sabha elections in the State.

Speaking to the media, Raj said that there would be 34 counting centres across the State, and that 12 companies of central forces would be deployed along with the State police at the centres.

"Three-tier security has been arranged at the counting centres. No one will be allowed within 100 meters of the counting hall," he said.

The CEO said that mobile phones and any other electronic gadgets were not allowed inside the counting halls, and that there would be CC camera monitoring of the entire halls. He added that camera monitoring would be done all the way from the strong room to the counting halls.

"Multiple cameras will be installed, and the counting halls will be monitored every moment. Only authorised persons will be allowed inside the counting centres," he said.

The CEO said that about 10,000 staff had been deployed for the counting of votes across the State, and that another 5,000 employees would be available as additional staff.

He added that 49 observers had been appointed to monitor the situation across the State, and that political parties had been asked to give their lists of counting agents by 5 PM on Saturday.

"In addition to this, a total of 2,440 micro-observers have been appointed across the State. Officials will check at every table, and the counting will start at 8 AM on June 4," he said.

"The maximum number of rounds, 24, will be in the Choppadandi, Yakutpura and Devarakonda Assembly constituencies, while the lowest number of rounds, 13, will be in the Armur, Bhadrachalam and Aswaraopeta Assembly segments. 2.8 lakh postal ballot votes have been received, and 276 tables have been set up for the counting of the postal votes. The results are likely to be available by 3 PM on the counting day. After the counting is completed, there will be counting of the VVPATs for five polling centres in each Assembly constituency," Raj said.

The CEO added that the Election Commission Of India had given clear instructions on the storage of EVMs, and that they would be stored accordingly after the completion of the counting process.