New Delhi, Aug 5: Counting of votes for Assembly by-elections in Bihar, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, with election authorities completing preparations and putting security arrangements in place at counting centres.Polling for the Bankipur Assembly constituency in Bihar, Manjalpur in Gujarat and Datia in Madhya Pradesh was held on July 30.
According to the counting schedule, postal ballots will be counted first. The counting of votes recorded in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will begin at 8:30 a.m.Election officials have deployed security personnel and made administrative arrangements to ensure that the counting process is conducted smoothly and without disruption in all three states.
In Madhya Pradesh, counting for the Datia Assembly seat will take place at the Government Polytechnic College. Authorities have arranged 20 counting tables at the venue to facilitate the counting process.
The key contenders in the Datia by-election include Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Ashutosh Tiwari, Congress nominee Ghanshyam Singh and Damodar Singh Yadav of the Azad Samaj Party.Besides the three prominent candidates, 18 other contestants are in the race, taking the total number of candidates to 21.
The by-election results will be closely watched by political parties and voters as they may offer an indication of voter sentiment in the three constituencies.The final results will be declared after the completion of all counting rounds and the verification of vote totals by election authorities.
