Assembly polls: Counting of votes begins in Delhi, Milkipur, Tamil Nadu

Counting of votes for Delhi's 70 Assembly constituencies began amid tight security at 19 locations across the national capital on Saturday, 8 February.

Delhi's chief electoral officer Alice Vaz said 5,000 personnel, including counting supervisors and assistants, micro-observers, and support staff trained for the process, had been deployed for the exercise.

According to the Conduct of Election Rules, postal ballots will be counted first and the process of counting of votes recorded in electronic voting machines (EVMs) begin 30 minutes later.

After that, counting of votes cast through postal ballots and EVMs will continue simultaneously.

Since 2019, VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) slips from five randomly selected polling stations per assembly constituency are matched with the EVM count for greater transparency.

Delhi, with 1.55 crore eligible voters, recorded a turnout of 60.54 per cent in the February 5 election.

A three-tier security arrangement with 10,000 police personnel, including two companies of paramilitary forces at each centre, has been put in place.

The results will reveal if AAP's political dominance in Delhi remains intact or is dented enough by the BJP for the saffron party to return to power for the first time since 1998.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has dominated Delhi's political map since 2015, routing both the BJP and the Congress in the assembly polls held that year by winning 67 of the 70 seats.

It returned to power in 2020 with 62 seats.

An AAP victory will re-establish Kejriwal's dominance in Delhi and enhance his political stature nationally.

However, a win for the BJP will not only return the saffron party to power in the national capital after more than 26 years but also break AAP and Kejriwal's grip on Delhi.

The Congress, which governed Delhi from 1998 to 2013, is looking to stage a comeback after failing to win a single seat in the previous two elections.

By-elections in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Milkipur, Uttar Pradesh: The election was necessitated by the resignation of Shri Awadhesh Prasad.

Erode (East), Tamil Nadu: The election was held due to the passing of Shri E.V.K.S. Elangovan.

The counting of votes polled in the 5 February by-election to the Erode East Assembly segment commenced on Saturday morning.

The counting began at 8 am at a government college at Chithode in this district.

Postal ballots were taken up for counting first. Later, the EVMs would be opened.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the western segment had recorded a voter turn out of 67.97 per cent.

There are 46 candidates, including 44 independents, in the fray and the contest is only between the ruling DMK's V.C. Chandirakumar and Tamil nationalist party, Naam Tamizhar Katchi's (NTK) M K Seethalakshmi.

Opposition parties, including the main opposition AIADMK, have boycotted the polls.

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan in 2024.

In Milkipur, election officials said the counting of votes cast through electronic voting machines (EVMs) would be held on 14 tables at the counting centre.

According to the Conduct of Election Rules, postal ballots will be counted first and the process of counting of votes recorded in EVMs begin 30 minutes later.

After that, counting of votes cast through postal ballots and EVMs will continue simultaneously.

Since 2019, VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) slips from five randomly selected polling stations are matched with the EVM count for greater transparency.

The officials said paramilitary force personnel had been deployed to ensure security during the counting exercise.

More than 65 per cent of the total 3.71 lakh voters in the Milkipur constituency of Ayodhya district exercised their franchise in the February 5 bypoll, surpassing the turnout recorded in the 2022 assembly polls.

With the constituency part of the politically-significant Ayodhya district, the bypoll turned into a prestige battle between the Samajwadi Party and Uttar Pradesh's ruling BJP.

Ten candidates were in the fray but the main contest was between the Samajwadi Party's Ajit Prasad and BJP nominee Chandrabhanu Paswan.

The bypoll was held after Awadhesh Prasad of the Samajwadi Party vacated the seat following his victory in the Lok Sabha elections from Faizabad.

Even as the Samajwadi Party looked to retain the seat, the BJP saw the bypoll as an opportunity to avenge its loss in Faizabad.

In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Milkipur was the only seat the BJP lost in Ayodhya district.

With PTI inputs