Counting of votes underway in Telangana

Hyderabad, Dec 11 (IANS) The counting of votes was underway amid tight security in Telangana on Tuesday.The counting of votes polled in all 119 Assembly constituencies on December 7 began 8 a.m. at 44 centres across the state. Election officials first took up counting of votes of service voters followed by postal ballots. After that, the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be opened to count the votes polled in polling booths.The counting will decide the political fortunes of 1,821 candidates. As many as 73.20 percent of 2.80 crore electorate voted in the elections held on Friday.At every counting centre, the authorities have arranged 14 tables for simultaneous counting of votes for each constituency. The completion of counting at all 14 tables is treated as one round. Each Assembly constituency will have a 14 to 20 rounds, depending the number of voters.This is the first full-fledged polls in India's youngest state. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is locked in a direct fight with Congress-led People's Front in most places. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contested all seats.
--IANS ms/mr