The counting of votes likely to get delayed in at least two booths, booth 310 and 318 of Sitalkuchi and Dinhata respectively of Cooch Behar Lok Sabha constituency, where the longest, (23 rounds) counting would be held while booth 251 at Chopra, under Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency, would witness the smallest rounds (nine) of counting.

Meanwhile, the Election commission made an elaborate arrangement for the smooth conduct of counting of votes for the 42 Lok Sabha seats that went to polls in the staggered seven phase elections that came to an end on Saturday.

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EC sources said a three-tier security ring had been thrown around at 55 counting centres, the important centres being Netaji Indoor Stadium, David Hare College in Ballygunge and Survey Building in south Kolkata.

About 418 counting halls in all had been earmarked for counting of votes. Section 144 would be in force within the radius of 200 metres and 92 companies of central force alongside 2,525 state police personnel had been deployed to man security around the counting centres.

Use of mobile phones had been strictly barred in all counting centres except in one case when the postal ballots would be taken up for counting.

According to EC, during that time only, the concerned returning officers or assistant returning officers could use their mobiles only once to see OTP otherwise, it is strictly no-no.

About three lakh postal ballots would be taken up for counting first, sources in the CEO office said.

EC sources also claimed that about 25,000 counting officials along with micro observers would be on duty tomorrow. One observer each for 294 Assembly constituencies in the 42 Lok Sabha seats had been pressed into service, while 418 assistant Returning Officers (ARO) had been appointed for counting of EVMs.

EC has also demarcated the authority of the respective candidates and their election agents of their respective Lok Sabha constituencies by making it clear that only the candidates and their election agents at their respective LS constituencies would have the liberty to move around all tables at the counting centre, while there is a bar on movement of the respective counting agents of the candidates at other tables from theirs.

The most number of counting centres had been put up for the Calcutta South Lok Sabha constituency, where seven counting centres had been put up.