Counting of votes in 3 states on February 27

New Delhi, Feb 26: Counting of votes polled in the assembly elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur will be taken up tomorrow.

The outcome of the assembly polls is eagerly awaited by all political parties, preparing themselves for the electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh in April-May.

Counting will also be taken up in the byelections to the Lok Sabha in Amritsar (Punjab) and Tehri Garhwal (Uttarakhand). Amid tight security arrangements. The counting will begin at 0800 hours and the results are expected within a few hours.

While voting was held in three phases in Manipur, there was a one-day poll in both Punjab and Uttarakhand. The three-phased voting in Manipur was held on February 8, 14 and 23.

About 60 per cent of the 1.65 crore voters exercised their franchise in election to 115 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab on February 13. Around 1,040 candidates were in the fray in the state where the Congress and the SAD-BJP combine are the main contenders for power.

Prominent candidates in the fray included Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his arch-rival SAD President Parkash Singh Badal, state Congress President Shamsher Singh Dullo and former SGPC Chief Bibi Jagir Kaur.

The battle in Amritsar was between cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who resigned from the seat following his conviction in a road rage death case, and state Finance Minister Surinder Singla of Congress.

Nearly 55 to 60 per cent out of the 60,00,000 voters exercised their franchise in the Uttarakhand Assembly election on February 21.

Out of a total of 806 candidates, 785 candidates were left in the fray for 69 seats after Bajpur Assembly election was deferred due to the death of the Congress candidate from the constituency. The Congress and the BJP are pitted against each other in this state.

The Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha by-poll was necessitated due to the death of Manavendra Shah on January 5, 2007. It was a battle between the son of late H N Bahuguna and the son of Manavendra Shah. The byelection was held on the same day as the assembly polls.

In Manipur, the first phase of election on February 8 witnessed 80-82 per cent turnout. In all 77 candidates were in the fray for 19 seats.

Eighty-five to ninety per cent of 7.38 lakh had cast their votes in the second phase on February 14 to decide the fate of 155 candidates for 29 seats, while on February 23, 80 per cent polling was recorded in the third and final phase of election to 12 Assembly seats where 75 candidates were in the fray.

UNI