Preparations for the counting of votes in 25 Lok Sabha seats and one assembly bypoll in Rajasthan were completed on Monday. The counting process will begin on Tuesday at 8 am, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said.
Polling for the 25 LS seats was held on April 19 and April 26 at Sriganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur-rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa, Nagaur (all in the first phase), and Tonk-Sawaimadhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Banswara, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota, Jhalawar-Baran (all in the second phase).
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Adequate arrangements have been made to protect counting personnel from the prevailing heat conditions at counting centres. Over 700 ACs and coolers have been installed for the comfort of these personnel. More than 13,000 personnel have been engaged in the counting process, Gupta informed the media.
A three-tier security system has been introduced at counting centres to ensure safety. The counting of EVM votes will be conducted on 2,713 tables in 4,033 rounds, he said.
The results of all 25 Lok Sabha constituencies and the Bagidora assembly by-election will also be declared.
Gupta informed that first of all, counting of votes cast through postal ballot will commence at 8 am in a total of 63 rooms allocated for this purpose. Following this, the counting of EVM votes will begin at 8.30 am in a total of 235 rooms.
Altogether, 266 contestants are in the fray, including eight prominent figures from the BJP. These include Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, four Union Ministers — Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kailash Choudhary, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Bhupendra Yadav — and five sitting MPs — PP Choudhary, Bhagirath Choudhary, Dushyant Singh, SS Jaunapuria, Sumedhananad Saraswati — as well as state BJP President C P Joshi. The electoral fate of four incumbent MPs will also be decided on Tuesday.
The total voter turnout in 25 LS seats during the two phases this time was 62.10 (updated after 26 April), which includes 0.57% by postal ballot, as against 66.34 per cent in the 2019 general election, marking a decrease of 4.81 per cent.