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Published : Feb 10, 2020, 11:04 PM IST

ETV Bharat / state

Delhi polls: Tight security in place ahead of counting of votes

Tight security arrangements have been made in counting centres at 21 locations across 11 districts of the national capital, ahead of counting of votes.

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New Delhi: Tight security arrangements have been put in place at various centres across the national capital where the counting of votes polled in the high-stakes February 8 Delhi Assembly elections will take place on Tuesday.

Tight security arrangements have been made at all counting centres

The curiosity among people to know the outcome of the elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly has heightened post-exit polls, that has forecast a big win for the ruling AAP, and the delay in announcement of the final voter turnout by authorities.

The election, largely seen as a battle between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP, which went aggressive during the high-octane campaign, was held on Saturday, sealing the fate of 672 candidates -- 593 men and 79 women.

Nearly 24 hours after the polling ended in Delhi, the Election Commission on Sunday announced that the final voter turnout was 62.59 per cent, five per cent less than 2015, and asserted that it followed the laid down process to compile data, after the AAP questioned the "delay".

Read: Delhi Polls 2020: Will the last hour surge of voting turn the tables?

Authorities in the Delhi CEO Office are gearing up for the counting of votes and adequate arrangements have been made at the centres spread across 21 location in the national capital, spanning 11 districts, officials said.

The counting centres are located at CWG Sports Complex in East Delhi, NSIT Dwarka in West Delhi, Meerabai Institute of Technology and G B Pant Institute of Technology in Southeast Delhi, Sir CV Raman ITI, Dheerpur in Central Delhi, and Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana in North Delhi, among other places.

There will be 33 counting observers, officials said.

Read: Delhi Assembly Election: AAP's development vs BJP's CAA-NRC rhetoric

There were 13,780 polling booths where every vote was accounted for by the presiding officers which is a time-consuming exercise, Sandeep Saxena, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, said at a press conference on Sunday.

Critical and vulnerable polling locations, numbered 545 and spanned 3,843 booths.

Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh, a day ahead of the polls, had said all EVMs have been tested and they are "foolproof and non-tamperable".

Exit polls on Saturday predicted an easy win for the AAP, which sought to retain power on development plank, against the BJP that ran an aggressive campaign centred around the issues of anti-CAA protests and nationalism.

(With inputs from PTI)

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