With results of Lok Sabha elections due just hours away, arrangements were on in full swing on Thursday across India to ensure fair counting in the country.
Security and other relevant arrangements have been ensured for full and fair counting of the votes that have been cast across nine phases in a period spanning over a month across the country.
In Bhopal, votes will be counted in an old prison with iron doors and security arrangements are at an all time high.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Srinivas Verma, told reporters about the elaborate the security preparations for the big day.
"Vote counting for seven legislative constituencies and the Bhopal parliamentary constituency will be held tomorrow at the old prison. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for vote counting. Around 1500 personnel will be on duty, and district police unit, Armed Forces, Rapid Action Force, and Women Platoon will be deployed," he said
There will be strict surveillance of all entrants coming to the counting station, including counting officers, agents of the candidates and media persons. Mobile phones will not be allowed inside during the ongoing process of counting.
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Chief Electoral Officer of Bhubaneswar, Vidisha, said that the arrangement for the counting of votes is rather uptight in the eastern Odisha city.
"There are 82 observers which have been appointed by the Election Commission and there is one Reserved Observer (RO) also. They have already reached their respective locations. The RO's have made elaborate arrangements for the security. So there is a three- tier security for every counting location and the CRPF forces have also been put into location and wherever we think there may be some problem after the declaration of results, additional forces have been mobilised and the actual process of counting is done by a team of personnel under the guidance of the RO which includes the counting supervisor, counting assistant, a micro observer and the supporting staff," Vidisha said.
In Bangalore city of southern Karnataka, security was heavily beefed up. The security personnel were seen inspecting vehicles and identity cards of those who exited and entered the counting stations.
With the Election Commission on its toes, the political parties are not lagging far behind either. Congress and BJP Headquarters have started working towards setting up tents for the media which will then broadcast the live results updates continuously.
"The hall that you see is centrally air conditioned. This has been done to save the media from the scorching heat. The TV cameras and anchors will be stationed here. One cabin each has been allotted to every channel. The results will be telecast live to the people of the nation regarding the status of BJP and the direction towards which the results are headed," BJP's media coordinator, Srikant, said.
Four major exit polls forecasted BJP and its allies to sweep to a parliamentary majority in the world's biggest ever election.