Assembly polls: SP, BJP perform havan ahead of results

Lucknow: With all eyes on crucial vote counting for the state assembly polls, several political leaders are indulging in performing havans and prayers. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Lucknow Cantonment Rita Bahuguna Joshi offered prayers at Hazratganj's Hanuman Temple earlier in the day. The Samajwadi Party workers also performed Havan. A special 'havan' was organised by the Samajwadi Party and Congress workers in Kanpur on Friday. The havan was organised outside the famous Mahadevan Shiv Temple for the mandate to be in the favour of them. The workers also carried posters, banners and flags of their respective parties during the havan. Elaborate arrangements and heavy security are in place for today's crucial counting of votes for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur Assembly Elections. The counting will start at 8 in the morning and firstly, all the postal ballots will be counted. The Election Commission has issued guidelines on security arrangements for counting of votes, and has also set up facilities for disseminating trends and results of elections of five assemblies. The poll body's website will start functioning at 8.00 in the morning and it would provide comparative analysis of results with 2012 polls, besides constituency wise, party wise and candidate wise trends. In Uttar Pradesh, counting will take place in 78 centres across 75 districts. The Chief Electoral officer reviewed preparations for counting of votes through video conferencing. In Uttarakhand, counting of votes will be held at 15 centres across the state. To avoid any controversy, the counting process will be video graphed, while in Manipur, the counting of votes for 60-member Assembly will be taken up at eleven centres. Meanwhile in Punjab, 14,000 officials have been deployed for smooth conduct of counting and it will be held at 54 counting centers at 27 locations, and in Goa, counting for 19 North Goa constituencies will be held at Panaji and for 21 south Goa constituencies in Madgaon city.