Srinagar/Ranchi:
Counting of votes in Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be taken up on Tuesday even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s tweet slamming the UPA government for not conferring the Bharat Ratna on former Prime Minister and BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee created a buzz.
As political parties work on strategies and possible alliances in the light of two exit polls projecting a hung house in J and K, Omar downplayed his tweet on Vajpayee yesterday and said nothing much be read into it.
The National Conference(NC) leader asserted that it was “inconceivable” for his party to go with the BJP.
The NC leader said no lines of communication are open between NC and BJP or for that matter with Congress or PDP.
PDP spokesman Naeem Akhtar while expressing confidence that his party will get a clear majority said it appeared that Omar has “something on his mind.”
Two exit polls have projected that PDP will emerge as the single largest party followed by BJP.
Counting centres have been set-up at all district headquarters in the state and the process will begin at 8 AM.
“28 counting centres consisting of 94 halls have been set-up to conduct the counting process at all district headquarters,” state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Umang Narula said here.
Police has made elaborate security arrangements for the counting in the Valley and a strategy has been put in place to deal with any law and order problem which may arise during or after the counting.
Jharkhand
All arrangements are in place for Tuesday’s counting for 81 seats to decide the fate of the third Assembly polls in Jharkhand, where two previous ones threw up hung verdicts.
The updated 66.47 per cent voter turnout in the 2014 polls was a record for both Lok Sabha and assembly elections held in the state since it was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000.
This election will give the state, which has been dogged by political uncertainty since its birth its tenth government in 14 years.
“All arrangements have been made for the counting at 24 centres across the state,” an EC official said here today.
“The process will begin at 7 AM,” he added.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren (Dumka/Barhait) and ex chief ministers Arjun Munda (Kharsawan), Madhu Koda (Majhgaon) and Babulal Marandi (Dhanwar/Giridih) are among the total 1,136 candidates, including 111 women, whose fates will be known on Tuesday.
Other prominent candidates in the fray were Speaker Shashank Sekhar Bhokta (Sarath), ex-Speaker C P Singh (Ranchi) and all the ministers in the Hemant Soren cabinet, besides several sitting MLAs and ex-ministers.
Front runners BJP, which contested in 72 seats, have a pre-poll alliance with the Ajsu party which was in the fray in eight seats, Lok Janshakti party in one seat. The main contender is the ruling JMM which contested in 79 seats.
JMM’s alliance partners Congress contested in 62 seats, RJD in 22 and JDU in 11. Despite their pre-poll alliance, the three partners clashed in some of the constituencies.
This is the third assembly elections in Jharkhand in its 14 years of its existence but the state has seen nine governments interspersed with three periods of central rule.
The other two polls were held in 2005 and 2009 and both voted in hung assemblies.
The first government was a BJP-ruled one and the assembly polls had held in February 2000 when Jharkhand was still part of undivided Bihar. After its formation the party in majority in the new state formed the government.
The state has so far been ruled by five tribal Chief Ministers—Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda (thrice), Shibu Soren (thrice), Madhu Koda (once) and Hemant Soren (once and incumbent) during the period.
