All preparations have been completed for the counting of votes polled in the Silchar Lok Sabha constituency, which went to poll on April 18.
The counting will take place at National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) premises located at Japirbond, which is around 10 kilometres from Silchar town.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Silachar LS constituency returning officer (RO) Laya Madduri said a three-tier security cover is in place for the counting.
“A total of 485 personnel including reserves have been trained adequately to smoothly conduct the whole process. A three tiered security arrangement has been kept in place and no one other than the authorized person or the candidate or their representatives, would be allowed inside the counting campus. Mobile phones are not allowed inside, other than the media and the observers,” Maduri told Northeast Now.
Madduri said that they have received around 5741 postal ballots and can be received further till the morning of May 23.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
“For service voters Election Commission of India (ECI) has started for the first time sending soft copies which can be downloaded with a QR code given to it for no one to miss utilize it. This Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot Scanning would be done once the postal ballot counting begins and can take some time.
“Apart from that, as per ECI guideline, five VVPATs for the seven assembly constituency each, under this Lok Sabha seat has to be counted. In all, if things go as planned, we should be able to declare the result by 8 to 9 PM on Thursday,” she added.
BJP candidate Rajdeep Roy said that the exit poll conducted by six or seven agencies has clearly showed that BJP and its allies are going to get somewhere between 270 to 365 seats.
“My personal observation is that we would get somewhere between 305 to 315 or even more, but not less than that. Having said that, I am also confident that not only we are going to win Silchar seat this time round but even Karimganj seat too would be in our kitty,” Roy told Northeast Now.
When this correspondent visited Congress candidate Sushmita Dev’s residence on Wednesday, she was not available to speak.
Her personal assistant informed to this correspondent that she was not keeping well and won’t be able to meet.