Counting to start at 8 AM, result expected by 2 PM
The result of the crucial Kedarnath Assembly by-election will be declared on Saturday. The counting of votes will start at 8 AM in Agastyamuni and the result is expected at around 2 PM.
The Election Commission (EC) has made all the preparations for the counting. The additional chief electoral officer (ACEO) Vijay Kumar Jogdande said that all the personnel have been assigned duties for the process of counting. He informed that EVM counting will be done on 14 tables while counting of the electronically transmitted postal ballots will be done on 10 additional tables. Jogande added that three-tier security arrangements have been set in place around the counting centre. The Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) will be in the innermost ring while the local police personnel will man the middle and outer circle of security. He said that the security personnel will allow entry only to the agents of the political parties and others having identity cards and passes. Jogdande said that all the preparations have been made for the counting.
In the bypoll 90,875 voters (44,919 male and 45,956 female) were registered and out of them 53,513 (25,168 male and 28,345 female) voters exercised their franchise. Though there are six candidates in the fray there is a direct contest between Asha Nautiyal of the BJP and Manoj Rawat of Congress party. The BJP has won the constituency three times while Congress has registered victory on two occasions in the past.
The prestige of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and senior leaders of State Congress such as former CM Harish Rawat, PCC president Karan Mahara and former PCC president Ganesh Godiyal is at stake in Kedarnath. Just ahead of the imposition of the model code of conduct (MCC), CM Dhami had announced a mega package of Rs 750 crore for Kedarnath constituency.
The Congress is hoping to cash in on the anger of the local people against the mismanagement in the Char Dham Yatra and anti-incumbency to snatch the seat from BJP. The ruling party on the other hand is banking on women voters, Modi magic and the development schemes announced by the CM to register a victory in the bypoll.
