State gets ready for results

Counting of two Lok Sabha seats each will be taken up in Lucknow,Sultanpur,Bijnore,Agra,Moradabad,Bareilly,Azamgarh,Allahabad,Saharanpur,Bahraich,Basti,Deoria,Jaunpur and Gorakhpur district headquarters. 

According to Bishnoi,there will be around 14 to 24 counting tables at these centres and after each round the central observers will check two of the EVMs in a random manner. Thereafter one observer — an employee of the Central government — will monitor the counting in each table. Like the 2007 Assembly elections,the Commission has given the power to the District Returning Officers (RO) to declare the poll results of all the 80 seats without seeking the Commission’s approval. Earlier,it was mandatory for each and every RO to get permission from the Commission before announcing the final results,said Bishnoi.

The voter turnout in the just-concluded five-phase polling for the seats in the state dipped to 47.84 per cent against 48.09 per cent recorded in the 2004 general elections. This time,however,the poll percentage was marginally better than 2007 Assembly polls when it was recorded at 46.24 per cent.