Vote count begins across India

New Delhi, May 16 (ANI): Counting of votes for the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies began across the country on Saturday.

Counting began at 8:00 a.m. in all 28 states and seven union territories. Votes polled in elections to state assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim are also being counted simultaneously.

The results are expected to decide the fate of 8,070 contestants, including 556 women.

Around 1,080 counting centres have been set up across 28 states and seven union territories with 4,260 counting halls.

Early trends are expected in about an hour at around 9:00 a.m. while the first results are expected at around 11:00 a.m.

A little over half of the 71.377 crore registered voters cast their ballots through Electronic Voting Machines in the five-phased elections that began on April 16 and ended on May 13.

The Election Commission has deployed 60,000 counting staff for the purpose.

The Commission has also made arrangements for the media to acquire details of every round of counting to them through its websites www.eciresults.nic.in. (ANI)