The outcome of the Assembly polls for the four states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry would be known by Friday noon when counting would be taken up in all the 839 counting halls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S.Y. Quraishi stated this here on Wednesday.
A three-tier security arrangement is already in place where counting is to be taken up at 8 am. A total of 43,892 officials would be involved in the exercise. The CEC said, “Efficient and secure arrangements are in place for counting and declaration of results.” The entire process would be videographed to ensure that no malpractice takes place.
Mr Quraishi said that counting would take place in 312 counting halls in West Bengal, 234 in Tamil Nadu, 140 in Kerala, 142 in Assam and 11 in Puducherry. He added that a computer centre would be functional in all the counting halls.
Referring to the high turnout in the polls, Mr Quraishi said that Tamil Nadu and West Bengal surpassed their 2006 Assembly poll figures by 11.26 per cent and 3.04 per cent. He said Kerala, Puducherry and West Bengal also witnessed largescale voting by women. On the issue of overseas voters, Mr Quraishi said, out of the 8,820 voters registered, 4,639 of them exercised their franchise in Kerala. One overseas citizen even contested from Thodupuzha in Idukki district.
On the question of money power in polls, the CEC said a total of `74.27 crores was jointly seized by the EC and the income-tax authorities. Tamil Nadu topped the chart of with `60.10 crores.
When asked about the challenges faced by the EC, he said voter indifference, security arrangements in Naxal-affected regions and paid news were some of them.
***
Traders bet on AIADMK
J. Shanmugha Sundaram
Vellore
May 11: As the anguished wait for the results of the April 13 Assembly elections is nearing a close, traders here have started placing bets among themselves and their customers. The AIADMK seems to be the hot favourite among the traders ahead of counting on Friday with most of them in Burma Bazaar betting on the AIADMK and its allies.