LS polls: Over 10,000 security personnel across 91 counting centres in Haryana

CHANDIGARH: The counting of votes polled for Haryana's 10 Lok Sabha seats and in the Karnal Assembly bypoll will be held on Tuesday across 91 designated centres.

Over 10,000 police personnel have been deployed to ensure smooth operations at the counting centres, Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur said.

A three-tier security system will be in place around the counting centres, he added.

Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said the counting of votes will commence at 8 am on Tuesday across 91 designated centres.

For the Lok Sabha seats, 223 candidates, including former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar (Karnal), Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh (Gurugram) and Krishan Pal Gurjar (Faridabad) and Congress stalwarts Kumari Selja (Sirsa) and Deepender Singh Hooda (Rohtak), were in the fray.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the outgoing MP from Kurukshetra, contested the bypoll to the Karnal assembly seat.

Chief Electoral Officer Agarwal said comprehensive arrangements have been made to ensure smooth counting.

"The counting of postal ballots at the Returning Officer's counting centre will begin before the EVM counting. Slips from five randomly selected VVPATs will be matched in the presence of counting agents," he said in a statement.

The Election Commission has appointed counting observers for all counting centres to supervise the process following the commission's instructions, Agarwal said.

Haryana this time recorded a voter turnout of 64.80 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls, about five percentage points lower than the 70 per cent recorded in 2019.

Polling for all 10 Lok Sabha seats and the Karnal assembly constituency was held in the sixth phase of the general election on May 25.

In the 2019 general elections, the BJP swept Haryana, winning all 10 seats in the state.

Chief Minister Saini on Monday reiterated that lotus (the BJP's poll symbol) will bloom on all 11 seats (including Karnal assembly seat).

He told reporters in Karnal that as results will be out, the opposition will once again put their blame on the EVMs.

"Rahul (Gandhi), (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda and other (opposition) leaders, all of them will blame the EVMs and take out their anger on the EVMs," Saini said.

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, however, said people of Haryana are fed up with BJP's "misrule" and added everything will become clear once the results are out Tuesday.

Saini, who is also the state BJP chief, was sworn in as the chief minister on March 12, replacing Khattar. Khattar's resignation as MLA from Karnal had necessitated the by-election.

Among other prominent names in the fray for the Lok Sabha seats include Ranjit Singh Chautala, an Independent MLA who had joined the BJP ahead of the polls.

Chautala entered the fray from Hisar against two members of the Chautala clan -- the JJP's Naina Chautala and the INLD's Sunaina Chautala. Besides, former Congress MP Jai Prakash was also in the fray from the seat.

The Congress' INDIA bloc partner Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contested from Kurukshetra, where it fielded its state unit chief Sushil Gupta against the BJP's Naveen Jindal and the Indian National Lok Dal's Abhay Singh Chautala in a triangular battle.

The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) fielded candidates on all 10 seats, the INLD on seven seats and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on nine.

The Haryana Police Monday said they have implemented stringent security measures across the state. A three-tier security system will be in place around 91 counting centres.

The first tier will be manned by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), the second by Haryana Armed Police (HAP) or Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel, and the third by district police officers.

DGP Kapur said that at least 70 police personnel will be stationed at each counting centre.

Additionally, 15 companies of Central Armed Police Forces along with other police officers have been assigned to the counting centres.

Security checkpoints will be established within a 100-metre radius of these centres.

CCTV cameras have been installed from the main entrance to the entire counting centre premises to keep a close watch on all activities related to the counting process, and male and female police officers have been assigned to frisk every person entering the counting centres, the DGP said.

Quick Response Teams (QRTs) will be deployed in sufficient numbers to maintain law and order. Additionally, duty magistrates will be stationed at various checkpoints and entry points, he added.

Each counting centre will have three entry gates for counting staff, counting agents, and those carrying EVM machines, he said.