New Delhi: India awaits the results of Lok Sabha elections 2009 with baited breadth. Counting of votes for all the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will begin at 0800 hrs IST on Saturday simultaneously all over the country to decide the fate of 8,070 contestants, including 556 women.
Counting will also start for Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim Assembly elections and for by-elections in some states at the same time and early trends are expected in about an hour at around 0900 hrs IST. The first results are expected around 1100 hrs IST.
There are a total of 1,080 counting centres spread across 28 states and seven union territories with 4,260 counting halls.
The Election Commission has deployed approximately 60,000 counting staff and has also asked the state election officials to compile the number of voters who exercised their 'right to not to vote' during the five-phase long Lok Sabha elections.
Many electorates exercised the option under Section 49 (O) of the Conduct of Election Rules in the elections that allows a voter to vote for no one by leaving a remark in the main register at the polling booth and signing it.
The result sheet from each counting hall after the end of every round shall be sent to data centre and the media centre simultaneously. The results would also be available in tEC's website www.eciresults.nic.in.
Elaborate security arrangements, too, have been made for smooth conduct of the counting process.
Strict vigilance would be maintained through close circuit TVs and video cameras. The entire counting process will be video-graphed and kept in safe custody of Returning Officers concerned, to be used for settling any dispute over the counting.
Even as voters and political parties wait for the results, the two main national parties - Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - have been claiming that they would emerge as the single largest party and their alliance will be the largest group in the 545-member Lok Sabha.
While Congress leads the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), BJP is the largest constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The other major group known as the Third Front is a conglomeration of the Left Front and other smaller and regional parties and is expected top play a major role in the formation of next government.
Already there have been reports that some parties belonging to the Third Front are in talks with the two major alliances - UPA and NDA - with Telangana Rashtra Samithi already announcing that it will support the BJP-led group.
The BJP Parliamentary Board, the top decision making body of the party, will meet on Saturday at 1700 hrs IST to take stock of post-result scenario.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet will resign on Monday in line with constitutional provisions.
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