The Office of the District Returning Officer on Wednesday said that it has made all necessary preparations for counting of votes in Raipur lok Sabha constituency on Friday. The counting would be done at Government Engineering College at Sejbahar.
The dry run of transmission of counting information and system checks by all concerned were done on Wednesday in the presence of senior officials. The District Collector and Returning Officer, Thakur Ram Singh accompanied by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Superintendent of Police (SP) visited the counting centre and reviewed the security and other arrangements.
About 500 jawans would be deployed at the centre where counting of votes of seven Assembly constituencies coming under Raipur lok Sabha constituency would be carried out. The constituencies are Dharsiwa, Arang, Abhanpur, Raipur-North, Raipur-South, Raipur-West and Raipur-Rural.Each counting table will be under the vigil of a micro observer on the day of counting. The micro observers were provided training at the conference hall of the District Panchayat office.
While providing them training on the role and work of micro observers, Master Trainer Alok Sharma said they will have to reach at the counting centre at 7 am. They need to be present at their respective tables by 7.30 am.In the first floor of the counting centre, a hall has been created for counting of votes of Raipur-North, Raipur-South, Raipur rural and Abhanpur Assembly segments under the Raipur lok Sabha seat. Similarly, at the ground floor counting of votes for Arang and Dharsiwa would be carried out.
Separate dias have been created for observers, media centres, central tabulation hall and for announcement of results. The counting of votes for Baloda Bazar and Bhatapara assembly constituencies would be held at Kishan rice mill district headquarters of Baloda Bazar-Bhatapara. The counting of postal ballots will start at 8 am for eight constituencies in the counting hall created for Abhanpur. The counting of EVM votes would start at 8 .30 am. While randomisation of some of the counting staffs was done on Wednesday, remaining would be carried out on Thursday and early on Friday morning.