GG News Bureau
Ahmedabad, 8th Dec. Vote counting for the high-stakes Gujarat Assembly elections started on Thursday morning at 37 polling stations across the state, amid tight security and the presence of Election Commission of India-appointed observers.
While postal ballots counting began at 8 a.m., EVM votes counting started at 8.30 a.m., according to an official.
To ensure a smooth counting process, the Commission has made elaborate security arrangements. The entire counting procedure is being recorded on video.
At the counting centres, there are 182 counting observers and as many election officials on duty, and each counting table has a micro-observer, a counting supervisor, and a counting assistant.
The state Assembly elections were held in two phases, with the first phase in 89 seats held on December 1 and the second phase in the remaining 93 seats held on December 5.
The turnout was 64.33 percent, which was about 4% lower than the previous Assembly elections in 2017. Only 3.16 crore of the 4.9 crore registered voters voted in the 2022 elections.
The ruling BJP ran for all 182 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a newcomer to the state’s political scene, ran for 181 of them. The Congress, the main opposition party, ran for 179 seats, while its alliance partner, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), ran for two.
There were 1,621 candidates in total.
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