Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner D. Ronald Rose along with senior officers inspecting the counting centre a day before counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections, in Hyderabad on Monday.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
The stage is all set for commencement of counting of votes for the 17 Lok Saha constituencies in the State on Tuesday.
The State election authorities made elaborate security arrangements at all the 34 counting centres where 120 halls have been earmarked for counting of votes cast in the electronic voting machines. The process will start at 8 a.m. with the counting of postal ballots that will be followed by the counting of votes cast in the EVMs. Over 10,000 staff have been posted on counting duties and the election officials made elaborate three-layered security arrangements with 12 companies of Central forces at the counting centres to avoid any untoward incidents. Counting of votes for Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly constituency where bypolls were held will be taken up simultaneously.
Given the indications of three-cornered contests in several constituencies, leaders of the political parties as well as the contestants are waiting with baited for the results to come in. Contestants of the three major parties the ruling Congress, the main Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samiti and the Bharatiya Janata Party are waiting anxiously for the results to unfold as each party is betting big on their performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress for instance is claiming that it is sure to get the numbers in double figures going by the spree of welfare schemes it has initiated since coming to power in the State in December. The party is banking heavily on the implementation of its guarantees in the form of free bus travel for women, gas cylinders at ₹500 each and supply of power upto 200 units to households free of cost.
The BJP is sure of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi factor playing a decisive role in the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls as can be seen from the estimations of the exit polls, several of which have projected significant gains for the saffron party in Telangana. BJP leaders point to the situation in 2019 Lok Sabha elections when it won four seats with vote share of close to 20% as against the little over 6% votes the party had polled in the Assembly elections held in December 2018.
The BRS, on its part, is confident of its performance in the Lok Sabha elections as the party sees no big change in the close to 40% vote share it secured in the previous Assembly elections. The BRS leaders are confident that the party’s vote bank remained intact in spite of desertions by some leaders who switched loyalties for greener pastures.
