UP: Counting of votes for LS polls to be held across 81 places under complete surveillance

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 3 (ANI): As the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will take place tomorrow (June 4), the 80 LS seats and four Assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh will be held under complete surveillance.
The counting of votes in UP will commence at 8 am on Tuesday at 81 locations across 7 police commissionerates and 68 districts of the state. The Election Commission of India has implemented a three-tier security system at the counting centres.
Over 93,000 police officers and personnel have been deployed for security purposes, along with units from the CAPF and PAC. Additionally, a social media team in each commissionerate and district will conduct 24-hour monitoring to counter misinformation and rumours spread by vested interests, by verifying and addressing their authenticity.

Additional Chief Secretary Home, Deepak Kumar, and DGP Prashant Kumar held a press conference in the Lok Bhavan auditorium, along with the Director of Information and Public Relations Department, Shishir Singh.
DGP Prashant Kumar detailed the enhanced security measures, including the deployment of 160 Deputy Commissioners/Additional Superintendents of Police, 476 Assistant Police Commissioners/Deputy Superintendents of Police, 2248 Inspectors, 12,883 Sub-Inspectors, 20,876 female constables, 50,697 constables, and 6,149 home guards across the 81 counting locations.
Furthermore, 145 companies of the CAPF and 102 companies of the PAC have been deployed. A three-tier security system has been established at the counting centres: the innermost layer is secured by CAPF, the inner layer by PAC/district police force, and the outer layer by the district police force along with supplementary forces. The area within a 100-meter radius of the outer cordon has been designated a sterile zone.
"Counting of votes is to be done in 81 places out of a total of 75 districts. There are some districts where two counting centres have been set up and police arrangements have been made keeping in view all those circumstances. The arrangement of force has been done according to the instructions of the Election Commission of India," DGP Prashant Kumar said in the press conference on Monday.
"The arrangement of force is in three-tier. The innermost cordon will be done by the Central Security Force, the middle cordon will be equipped by the PAC and the outermost cordon will be manned by the local police," he added.
DGP Prashant Kumar said that special arrangements have been made to prevent traffic congestion around the counting area.
He further said that the seven-phase elections were conducted in a peaceful, fair, violence-free manner and no incident related to electoral violence took place.
DGP Prashant Kumar stated, "Only authorized personnel will be allowed entry to the counting centre, and each person will be frisked and checked using DFMD and HHMD devices. Carrying objectionable items will be strictly prohibited. Female personnel will conduct searches of women to ensure privacy."
He added, "To prevent traffic congestion around the counting area, special arrangements have been made. Fire brigades, ambulances, medical teams, reserve teams, and extra QRT have also been prepared for emergencies. Extra police and reserve QRT teams have been stationed at sensitive locations across various districts, with UP 112 PRV vehicles patrolling these areas continuously. Considering the scorching heat and heatwave conditions, provisions for adequate drinking water, shade, and other necessary amenities have been made at the counting centre."
Additional Chief Secretary Home, Deepak Kumar, announced that all district counting centres in the state would be monitored via CCTV. Additionally, a media gallery has been set up at each counting site, with an information officer in charge who will periodically escort journalists through the counting hall.

Chief Electoral Officer, Navdeep Rinwa also spoke on the arrangements for tomorrow and said that from 12 pm to 2 pm on Monday, the postal ballot results will be out for all constituencies in Uttar Pradesh
Speaking to ANI, Rinwa said, "The counting of postal ballots will start around 8:00 am tomorrow. Where there are no postal ballots, counting of the EVMs starts at 8:00 am. In the postal ballots valid and invalid (votes) are segregated, which takes some time. From 12 pm to 2 pm the postal ballot results will be out for all constituencies in Uttar Pradesh." (ANI)