Tight security at counting centre in Mira Road Final verdict in tri-cornered battle expected @ 1:30 pm

After the fierce electoral campaign and subsequent low voter turnout on election day, the Mira-Bhayandar (145) assembly constituency which saw a total of 12 candidates battle it out for over a fortnight, the day of reckoning has finally arrived as counting of votes takes place today. The counting process will be held at Royal College in Mira Road amidst tight police security from 8 pm onwards.

However, the final verdict of this particular assembly constituency is likely to come out at around 1:30 pm, later than usual, as results will be declared only after the tallying of voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips – a process that is expected to take well over an hour – after the postal ballot counting and Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) count is completed at around 12:30 pm.

With a total of 426 EVMs, there will 14 counting tables and 31 rounds, officials said. Following the Apex Court orders, the tallying of the VVPAT slips with EVM count has increased from one to five per assembly segment. There would be adequate police deployment all over the city to maintain law and order, he said.

“With multi-layer security in place, there would be adequate police deployment all over the city to maintain law and order,” said, Thane (rural), SP Dr Shivaji Rathod. Keeping in mind that workers of political parties may break into celebrations which may lead to altercations and untoward incidents, the police have disallowed any type of victory rallies.

The Mira Bhayandar assembly segment witnessed a triangular contest between Narendra Mehta (BJP), Muzaffar Hussain ( Congress) and BJP rebel-Geeta Jain (Independent).

Results will be declared only after the tallying of voterverified paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips