Preparations in full swing for counting of votes at Mundera Mandi
504 staff members will count votes for Phulpur and Allahabad parliamentary seats in Prayagraj on June 4 at 140 tables in Mundera Mandi.
As many as 420 staff members have been deputed for the task of vote counting for the Phulpur and Allahabad parliamentary seats of Prayagraj on June 4.
The task will take place at 140 tables.
The counting of votes for the two parliamentary constituencies of Bhadohi but part of Praygraj district, ie., Handia and Pratappur will also take place in the Mundera Mandi alongside Phulpur and Allahabad seats by 84 staff members entrusted with the task, said district officials.
Thus, total of 504 staff members will carry out the counting task.
The district election officials have started preparations for the counting of votes. As part of the preparation, the training for the counting personnel was held at Bishop Johnson School and College from 10am to 1pm on Thursday.
Apart from these, the counting of votes for the Handia and Pratappur assembly constituencies of the Bhadohi Lok Sabha constituency will also be held simultaneously here itself. The district election officials will set up 28 tables for counting of votes for both these assembly constituencies. There will be 84 staff members manning these tables.
Separate tables will also be set up for votes cast on ballot paper including those by people with disabilities (PwD), senior citizens above the age of 80 years and officers on essential election duty etc. There will be four employees to count 500 ballot papers. All the ballot papers will be received on June 1.
Arrangements are also being made to protect the counting personnel from the heat at the counting venue located in Mundera Mandi. Given the continuous scorching heat and high temperatures being recorded, arrangements for adequate coolers, fans, and potable water are being made at the counting venue.
Chief development officer (CDO) Gaurav Kumar said that preparations are being made at the counting site to protect all staff members from the heat.
Moreover, the strong room constructed at the Mundera Mandi is also being monitored 24 hours a day. A generator has been installed in the strongroom to avoid disruption in functioning of the CCTV owing to power failures. This was done after Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate from Bhadohi, complained on the social media platform about the cameras of the strong room being switched off due to a power supply cut three days back. After the complaint of the TMC candidate, local leaders of the Samajwadi Party met chief revenue officer (CRO) Pankaj Kumar and demanded installation of an inverter in the strong room.
CDO Gaurav Kumar said that in case of power supply failure in the strong room, inverters have also been installed for power backup.
Now EVMs can be seen on the display boards put up for 24 hours a day. The CDO inspected the strong room on Wednesday evening and saw the display board. The CDO also oversaw the preparations at the counting site.