The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in Haryana and is engaged in a contest with the Indian National Congress (INC) in Maharashtra on Sunday, as the counting of votes for the selection of representatives for the two state assemblies got underway amidst tight security.
At the time of the filing of this report anad per figures released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the BJP was leading in two assembly constituencies in Maharashtra and three in Haryana. In Maharashtra, the Indian National Congress (INC) was leading in three assembly constituencies.
In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party were leading in two seats each, while Independents were leading in one seat.
In Haryana, the Om Prakash Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) party was leading in one seat as also was the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) party. So far, as per the Election Commission of India web site, leads for ten and five seats in Maharashtra and Haryana have been announced.
Counting of votes for assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana began at 8 a.m., and final resluts are expected by this afternoon.
In Maharashtra, the counting of votes is taking place in 269 locations, while in Haryana, it is being carried out at 57 places.
Elections for 288 member Maharashtra Assembly and 90 member Haryana Assembly were held on Wednesday. While 4,119 candidates, including 276 women, were in the fray for Maharashtra Assembly, 1,351 contested Haryana Assembly polls.
The Election Commission will display trends and results through its website www.eciresults.nic.in.
Meanwhile, the counting of votes for the Beed Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra and the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat in Odisha is also taking place today. Counting of votes for the Rajkot (West) Assembly seat in Gujarat, Northern Angami-Two Assembly seat in Nagaland and Kanubari Assembly constituency in Arunachal Pradesh is also underway.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made in and around the counting centres to ensure peaceful counting. In Maharashtra, 320 paramilitary companies have been deployed in addition to state police and security forces from other states.
CCTV cameras have been installed at all counting centres. Observers and micro observers have also been deployed at each counting centres.
Around 35000 poll personnel have been deputed for the counting of votes under the supervision of observers deputed by the Election Commission for every constituency. The Election Commission has deputed additional observers to look after the counting.
