No victory rally permitted; curbs at counting centres
Results may start coming in by tonight
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: The counting of votes for the panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held on Sunday with the Supreme Court on Saturday refusing to stay the process but asking the state government to notify officers who will be held responsible for any lapse regarding the compliance of Covid-19 guidelines and assurances. The results may start trickling in from Sunday night, hours after the manual counting of votes starts at 8am.
A bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and Hrishikesh Roy turned down a bunch of pleas against the counting of votes after the Uttar Pradesh government and the state election commission gave undertakings to comply with all safety guidelines and operating protocol against the spread of Covid-19.
“The operating protocol mentioned therein is being and will be adhered to by all the stakeholders as well as duty holders without any exception,” recorded the bench in its order.
It took on record submissions by additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the state government and the state election commission, that in addition to all other safety protocol issued by the commission on April 29 and 30, there will be a strict curfew in and around the counting centres till the counting of votes and the declaration of results are complete.
“Besides, no victory rally will be permitted throughout the state of Uttar Pradesh after the results are announced or during the counting process is in progress. This assurance is placed on record,” noted the court.
It added that CCTV recordings at the designated counting areas and centres will be done and will be duly preserved till further directive of the Allahabad high court, where a related matter is pending. The court also made it mandatory for everyone entering the counting centres to produce negative Covid-19 test reports.
The counting will start simultaneously in all the 75 districts for 58,176 posts of village pradhans, 7,32,485 village ward members, 75,852 kshetra panchayat ward members and 3,051 zila panchayat ward members.
“The results of the village pradhans’ election will start coming in from late Sunday night while the results of kshetra panchayat and zila panchayat members may be available only on May 3,” a state election commission official said.