Counting of votes to elect representatives to the 16th Lok Sabha and four State Assemblies-Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim-began at 8 a.m. on Friday amid tight security.
The counting of votes will take place at 989 centres. Postal ballots will be counted first and will be followed by the counting of votes in electronic voting machines (EVMs), said the Election Commission.
It further said that counting is likely to be completed by 5 p.m., but added that trends will be available by 11 a.m.or even before.
Media reports said that by noon, a picture could emerge on who will be the major players in the 16th Lok Sabha.
In all, 8,000 candidates are in the fray for 543 Lok Sabha seats.
This is the first time that the option of 'none of the above' or NOTA was introduced in a general election on the direction of the Supreme Court.
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Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said that elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure a smooth counting of votes at all centres across the country. He said, each counting table will have a micro observer to monitor the counting process and after every round, the result sheet will be provided to the candidates.
This year's nine-phased general elections have witnessed the highest-ever voter turnout of 66 per cent.
The counting of votes will determine who will form the next government at the Centre.
The approximate voter turnout in this year's general election was a litttle over 551 million.
Key candidates Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi travelled over a distance of 465,000 kilometers together to address rallies across the country.
The official money spent on the elections was Rs.3, 426 crores, which was 13 per cent more than what was spent in the last general elections in 2009.
The Election Commission also seized Rs.314 crores in cash and 2.25 crores litres of illicit liquor that was meant for distribution among voters to sway their votes in favour of a particular political party.
The nine-phased elections, spread over 69 days, is the longest in India's electoral history, and saw the active use of new media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, besides use of blogs.
Apart from Modi and Rahul Gandhi, the other key candidates whose political fate will be decided today are Sonia Gandhi, L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arvind Kejriwal.
Elections were held in 28 states and seven union territories.
Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangements have also been put in place. About 550,000 security personnel will be deployed for the counting process. A three-tier cordoning system will be set up at all counting premises to prevent the entry of unauthorised persons inside the counting zones.
The first tier of security at the 100-metre periphery will be manned by local police. The second tier will be stationed at the gate and be manned by the state armed police, and the third tier security will be the central armed police force.
Moreover, a 100-metre periphery around a counting premise will be demarcated as the pedestrian's zone. No vehicles will be allowed within this perimeter.
Approximately a million counting personnel will be counting the votes collected in 18,78,306 electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the 989 centres.
The exit polls have projected that the BJP and its allies would touch the half-way mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Most polls show the incumbent UPA regime getting between 101 and 148 seats.
The BJP's biggest gains are in Uttar Pradesh, where at least two surveys have predicted the party to win 54 seats. Similarly in Bihar, the exit poll results have dismissed any chance of the RJD's resurgence, giving a clear lead to the NDA.
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