Chennai, May 23 (UNI) Counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha and
Assembly bypolls in Tamil Nadu, that would decide the fate of the ruling
AIADMK, began on Thursday morning, amid tight security.
The counting began in 45 centres across the state, involving 17,128
polling staff.
A total of 88 central observers were deputed by the Centre to
monitor the counting process.
A total of 45,000 police personnel, including 10,000 in three
counting Centres in Chennai, were deployed on security duty.
Apart from the state police, 1,520 para military forces, were also
drafted for security duty across the State.
The Union Home Ministry has alerted all the State DGPs to be
on vigil to deal with violent incidents.
Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said each Lok Sabha seat
has six assembly segments of which EVMs would be counted in five
tables and the postal ballots in the sixth table.
Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) papers, which was used for
the first time this time along with the EVMs, would also be taken
up after counting of EVMs.
The fate of 822 candidates in LS polls to 38 seats and 406 in bypoll
to 22 Assembly seats would be decided after counting.
With a majority of the exit poll predicting victory for the Opposition
DMK-led Front in the polls, the people's verdict would be very crucial
for the surival of the government, which has been surviving on a wafer
thin majority.
A total of 72.01 per cent of the 5.88 crore electorate voted in LS polls,
while 76.5 per cent voted in bypolls, which were seen as an acid test
for the leadership qualities for both the AIADMK and the DMK.
Though there were 39 Lok Sabha constituencies, elections were held only
for 38 seats after the Election Commission (EC) rescinded the polling
for the Vellore seat following seizure of large amount of cash.
Of the total 22 vacant assembly seats, bypoll for 18 seats were held
along with single phase Lok Sabha polls on April 18 and for the
remaining four seats on May 19.
Moreover, this was the first full-fledged elections faced by the State
in the absence of two tall leaders and former Chief Ministers--AIADMK's
J Jayalalithaa and DMK's M Karunanidhi--who died in December 2017 and
August 2018, respectively.
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