Counting of votes began this morning for the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram. In Madhya Pradesh, the counting is taking place for 230 constituencies. According to State Election office, counting of postal ballots will be taken up first. In Chhattisgarh, counting is taking place for 90 seats in all the 27 district headquarters of the state. In Telangana, counting of votes for 119 seats began at 43 locations, most of which are district headquarters. Our correspondent reports that a total of two crores 80 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the polling that was held last Friday.
In Rajasthan, Chief Electoral officer Anand Kumar has said, the CCTV cameras have been installed to keep a close watch on counting process for 199 seats. Our correspondent has the details. In Mizoram, counting is being held for 40 Assembly seats at 13 centres. Our correspondent reports that elaborate security arrangements have been made in and around the counting centres. The News Services Division of All India Radio has made changes to bulletins as part of its special coverage for the counting of votes today. The 12-noon bulletin will be of 10 minutes instead of five. The Hindi bulletin that follows will be aired from 12:10 to 12:20 PM.
The duration of the Midday bulletin in English and Dopahar Samachar in Hindi has also been extended by 15 minutes. Midday News will be broadcast from 2 to 2:30 PM, while Dopahar Samachar will be aired from 2:30 to 3 PM. The 6 PM bulletin in English and 6:05 PM bulletin in Hindi will be extended by 5 minutes. AIR News will also carry special programmes for the latest s on election results from 8:30 am to 2 pm. A Radio Bridge programme will also be broadcast from 9:30 PM to 10:30 PM by linking Aizawl, Raipur, Bhopal, Jaipur and Hyderabad stations. (AIR NEWS)