Delhi election: Counting of votes begins

Counting of votes polled in the high-stakes Delhi Assembly election began on Tuesday morning amid tight security at various centres set up to carry out the exercise.

Exit polls have predicted a big win for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, but the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders maintained that the surveys would fall flat.

The counting began at 8 am and will be held in multiple rounds, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh said.

"Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place. The exercise is being carried out as per the laid-down procedures of the Election Commission," Singh said.

Tight security arrangements have been put in place at various centres across Delhi, he said.

"The postal ballots will be counted first till around 8.30 am and then the votes cast through electronic voting machines will be counted," the senior official said.

"The counting centres are spread across 21 locations, spanning the 70 constituencies. Each centre has several counting halls, equal to the number of constituencies falling in that district," he said.

Each EVM consists of a ballot unit (BU), a controls units (CU) and a voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT.)