The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. on Thursday .
New Delhi, India, December 8: On Thursday, the voting for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections began at 8 a.m.The counting took place in 37 centers in 33 districts.While there are 68 counting halls in 59 locations across the state, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Maneesh Garg said that 10,000 duty employees, including the security staff, have been deployed as part of the security process.He said that teams of counting officers, 182 election officers, and 494 assistant election officers have been deployed to ensure a smooth counting process.
In addition, 71 additional Assistant Election Officers were appointed to lead the electronically transmitted postal ballot system in the previous elections.In Gujarat, two phases were held on December 1 and 5.By the end of the second phase of the Gujarat elections, the estimated voter turnout was 59.51%.During the first phase of polling on December 1, Gujarat saw an overall turnout of 63.14 percent. Though most exit polls predicted that BJP will likely retake Himachal Pradesh, one exit poll stated that Congress would take the lead in the sweepstakes for the first time in the hill state.Gujarat has been a ghost town for 27 years, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi staying in the Chief Ministers office for the longest time before becoming Prime Minister.In the last assembly elections in 2017, Congress faced a tense opposition led by the ruling BJP.However, the AAP may stomp the game for Congress by taking away a large vote share in their favour.