Counting of votes begins for 50 Assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh

Counting of votes for 50 assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh began on Sunday with a massive security cover in place, an election official said here.

The counting commenced in 24 district headquarters at 6 AM amid heavy rain across the state and the final results are expected to be out by noon, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain said.

Assembly and Lok Sabha elections were held simultaneously in Arunachal Pradesh in the first phase of polls on April 19.

The northeastern state has 60 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats. The ruling BJP has already won 10 assembly seats unopposed.

Counting of postal ballots will be conducted first which would be followed by counting of votes in EVMs, Sain said.

The counting process would be managed by over 2,000 officials.

"A three-tier security arrangement has been made in all counting centres," he said.

An estimated 82.71 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in the assembly polls while the turnout for the two Lok Sabha seats in the state was recorded at 77.51 per cent.

Votes polled in the two Lok Sabha seats in the state would be counted on June 4 along with the rest of the country.

The BJP had won both the Lok Sabha seats and 41 assembly constituencies in the 2019 polls. The JD (U) had won seven assembly seats, the NPP five, Congress four and the PPA one. Two Independent candidates had also emerged victorious.