Counting begins for Tamil Nadu rural local body polls

The elections for the rural local bodies were held in two phases in 27 districts, barring the nine newly carved ones in line with the apex court’s order

Polling officials at work at a counting centre in Viralimalai in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu on Thursday.

The process of counting of votes polled in the two-phased rural local bodies held on December 27 and 30 in Tamil Nadu began on Thursday morning.

Tight security has been deployed at the 315 counting centres across the state.

The elections for the rural local bodies were held in two phases in 27 districts, barring the nine newly carved ones in line with the

apex court’s order .

The ballot papers in four different colours were used in the poll instead of the electronic voting machines (EVM).

Before counting the votes the ballot papers were being segregated based on their colours.

According to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC) the first phase saw polling of 76.19 per cent, and the second phase saw 77.73 per cent.

Over 2.31 lakh contested the polls for 91,975 posts. The posts include: Gram Panchayat Ward member, Gram Panchayat President, Panchayat Union ward member and District Panchayat Union Ward member posts.

Chaos in Tiruvannamalai

Counting of votes for the village panchayat wards and panchayat presidents posts began at Danish Mission HSS, Tiruvannamalai.

Election officials staged a protest by walking off the strong room as breakfast had not been provided for them.

Likewise, chaos reigned at the entrance of Shanmuga Industries Government HSS, where police allegedly denied entry to the official agents of candidates and election officials. There were arguments and counter arguments between police and agents. Reinforcements were summoned to help deal with the situation and the counting process started little later.

It took almost two hours to sort out preliminary issues to commence the counting process at Tiruvannamalai, whereas in Cheyyar the work was carried out swiftly with ease. The first result is expected by 2 pm on Thursday, say election officials.