Jammu/Srinagar, Oct 7 (IANS): A day before the counting of votes in Jammu and Kashmir, all procedural formalities have been completed to ensure smooth, fair and flawless counting of votes on Tuesday, said officials here, adding that security has been enhanced.
For all the 90 Assembly constituencies the counting will start at 8 a.m. Randomisation of counting staff in 20 districts of the UT was completed as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India, which was done in the presence of the district electoral officers (DEOs) under the supervision of the observers designated by the ECI.
On the occasion, the designated poll staff was classified into teams, each comprising Counting Supervisors, Counting Assistants, and Counting Micro Observers assigned to their respective Counting Halls.
The Randomisation of Counting Staff was facilitated by dedicated software to ensure a transparent, free and fair counting process devoid of human interference. The process was also video recorded as per the guidelines of the ECI.
Security arrangements are in place in the entire UT as the authorities are anticipating victory processions by the winning candidates and the political parties. There will be no laxity in security till all results are declared and the entire election process is completed by October 10, the officials said.
This will be the first elected government to be formed in Jammu and Kashmir post abrogation of Article 370 as well as after downgrading of the state into two UTs of J&K and Ladakh.
The officials said a three-tier security set-up has been put in place at all counting centres across Jammu and Kashmir. Only authorised counting agents of the contesting candidates and staff posted on counting duty will be allowed inside the counting halls. Tally of votes for each candidate will be announced after every round of counting on the public address system outside the counting halls.
The just concluded legislative Assembly election recorded a voter turnout of 63.45 per cent which is less than the 65.52 per cent recorded in the 2014 Assembly elections.
The legislative Assembly poll was held in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1. In the first phase, 24 seats went to the poll, in the second phase, 26 and in the third phase, 40 seats went to the poll.
Exit Polls have put the NC-Congress alliance in a strong position with the regional party getting the lion’s share of the seats. BJP is expected to slightly improve on its tally of 25 seats which it had won in the 2014 polls. The PDP, which had won 28 seats in the 2014 polls, is predicted to win less than 10 seats this time by the Exit Polls.
The pollsters have not given much of a chance to the new and emerging parties like the Peoples Conference (PC), Apni Party, Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) of Lok Sabha member, Rashid Engineer. These parties along with Independents are expected to win around 10 seats.