JAMMU, Jun 3: A day ahead of the counting of votes for the Jammu and Udhampur Lok Sabha constituencies along with rest of the country, three-tier security has been activated in and around the counting centres in the two districts.
The counting of over 23.94 lakh votes in these constituencies, scheduled for Tuesday, will determine the fate of 34 candidates, including senior BJP leader and Union Minister Jitendra Singh, current Jammu MP Jugal Kishore Sharma and former ministers Choudhary Lal Singh and Raman Bhalla of the Congress.
“All arrangements are in place for the June 4 vote counting. Three-tier security has been implemented,” said Returning Officer and Jammu District Magistrate Sachin Kumar Vaishya.
Vaishya, who reviewed the security measures, logistics and essential amenities at the counting venues, said the counting process will take place in the Polytechnic College and M A M College.
“Votes from the seven assembly constituencies will be counted at M A M College, while 11 constituencies will be tallied at Polytechnic College,” he added.
The administration has fully trained the staff and sensitized all polling agents for the counting process. This includes a detailed examination of the deployment of paramilitary and police personnel as well as the set up for counting staff and agents.
“All counting staff are fully trained and all political parties and their agents have been briefed and issued I-cards. The arrangements are comprehensive, covering traffic and security,” Vaishya said.
CCTV cameras have been installed and videography arrangements are in place at the counting centers.
Over 12.86 lakh votes (72.22 per cent) will be counted in the Jammu constituency, where BJP’s sitting MP Jugal Kishore Sharma aims for a third consecutive victory against Raman Bhalla, the working president of the J&K Congress unit, among 22 other candidates.
Both BJP and Congress have expressed confidence of winning the seat.
“We are very confident that BJP will win this seat. It was predicted by the exit polls as well,” Sharma said.
In Kathua, three-tier security is also in place for the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency counting scheduled for Tuesday.
