The Pune district administration is all set for the counting day tomorrow. Collector and returning officer Suhas Diwase said all arrangements, including a robust three-tier security system, have been made for the counting of votes.
"We have a total of 21 constituencies in Pune district. Of these, the counting of votes for eight constituencies in Pune city will take place at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) Godown in the Koregaon Park area. The counting of votes for seats in rural parts of Pune district will take place in their respective constituencies. All necessary arrangements in terms of logistics and security have been completed," said Diwase.
Diwase said a three-tier security system has been put in place for protecting EVMs as per Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines. The first layer is being manned by central security forces, the second by the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) and the third by the state police.
Strong rooms housing EVMs are under CCTV surveillance, and the footage is being made available to candidates, the collector informed. The strong rooms will be opened in the presence of observers and candidates, after which the EVMs will be brought out and taken to counting tables, he added. "Necessary barricading has been done. We are ready in terms of logistics. For counting, we have appointed micro observers and counting supervisors," said the collector.
Describing the formalities of the vote-counting process, he said, "We will start counting the postal ballots first at 8am. One hour before that, the storeroom will be opened. On average, 400 postal ballots will be counted at each table."
The Pune Police have deployed extensive resources on the warehouse outskirts, including 11 Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs), 19 Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs), 12 companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), four Additional Commissioners of Police, 350 police officers and 2,500 police constables. These teams will be responsible for crowd control, traffic management, and handling any unexpected situations.
In anticipation of heightened political tensions, the administration has banned unauthorised movement and drone activity around the warehouse during the counting process. Security personnel will be on high alert to ensure the process is completed without incident, police officials said.
Additionally, the traffic police have banned vehicular movement on several roads in and around Koregaon Park during this period. They have also designated parking spots for more than 2,000 vehicles at three different locations.
Meanwhile, the counting of votes for Maval and Bhosari Assembly seats will take place at Balewadi Stadium, for Chinchwad at Kamgar Bhavan in Thergaon and for Pimpri at Nutan Polytechnic College in Talegaon Dabhade.
