All set for counting at 35 centres in Bihar

Amid tight security, counting of votes in Bihar will begin at 8 am Tuesday at 35 centres across the state, where a total of 72, 723 electronic voting machines (EVMs) kept in strongrooms hold the results for the 40 Lok Sabha seats, foe which polling was held in all seven phases of the general election that ended June 1.

A three-tier security cover will be in place for the exercise, a senior police officer said.

While the first layer comprises central armed forces, the second layer will be of Bihar Military Police and the third of District Armed Police.

According to Election Commission (EC) guidelines, there will be 10 micro observers deployed in each parliamentary seat and an assistant electoral registration officer (AERO) for each counting table. Nobody else will be allowed inside. The media will also be barred from entering the counting centres, officials said.

Mobile phones and other electronic gadgets have been banned inside the counting centres, but election officials can use laptops or other devices to transmit results.

Outside the centres where EVMs are kept, provision had been made for the candidates and agents of political parties to monitor the EVMs both with naked eye and through big LED screens connected to CCTVs installed there.

However, at most of the places, nobody from political parties turned up to avail the facility. “In Patna, some people did seek permission to avail the facility, but nobody turned up,” said district magistrate Shirshat Kapil Ashok.

Bihar’s chief electoral officer (CEO) H R Sriniwasan, along with Patna police chief and district magistrate, visited the counting centre of two parliamentary seats of Patna at Anugrah Narain College on Boring Road on Monday to take stock of the arrangements.  

“No vehicle, including that of officers, ministers or any political functionary, is allowed inside the campus where the EVMs have been stored. The vehicles have to stop ahead of the outer security perimeter. The CAPF personnel will maintain a logbook and take signatures of the visitors after thorough frisking. The log books are checked by the district election officers and returning officers every day,” said a senior police officer.

Patna SSP Rajiv Mishra said 1200 police personnel have been deployed in and around the venue. Around 200 motorbikes also deployed at every corner/intersections/roundabout of the city.

The SSP said no victory procession would be allowed near the counting centre as prohibitory orders have been imposed in and around the counting centre. “Those have violate the order would be booked, including for violation of model code of conduct,” Mishra said.