GUWAHATI: The counting of the votes for the assembly polls in the states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura on Thursday. The counting started in the three states at 8 AM under strict supervision.
A three-tier security measure has been enforced in the states including central paramilitary forces restricting the movement of the public near all the counting stations as a precautionary measure. The Election Commission of India had appointed a general observer for each of the constituencies of these states alongside other officers including micro-observers and counting supervisors ahead of the counting process.
As additional security measures, metal detectors and CCTV cameras were installed across all the counting halls. The entire counting process is also being videographed in the three states. The postal ballots were counted before the regular votes from the EVM machines.
The state of Tripura saw a turnout of around 89.95% in the voting carried out on February 16 for all of its 60 assembly seats. A total of 259 candidates including 31 women are in competition for the 60 seats in the state. The previous chief minister of the state, Dr Manik Saha won in Bordowali constituency with the Congress candidate Ashish Kumar Saha. The Bharatiya Janata Party is leading in the counting with the local TIPRA Motha Party in the second position.
Counting for the Meghalaya assembly is also going on at full speed. The state had seen an 85.17% turnout in the voting held on February 27. The Chief Electoral Officer had mentioned that a total of 13 centres across 12 district headquarters as well as the sub-divisional headquarter of Sohra. As the National People’s Party is leading in the ongoing counting procedure, party preparations have been said to have started in the home constituency of Conrad K Sangma. The counting is on across 59 out of 60 constituencies. Voting was cancelled in the Sohiong Constituency over the death of one of the candidates.
The Nationalist Democratic People’s Party - Bharatiya Janata Party alliance is leading in the state of Nagaland, with no visible competition at the time. The state saw a near 86% turnout in the voting that took place for 59 out of 60 constituencies of the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the Akuluto constituency because of the lack of any competitors. 183 candidates have appeared for these 59 seats.
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