GWMC polls: All set for counting today

Warangal: The contestants have been anxiously waiting for Wednesday, the D-day on which the counting of votes is scheduled to take place unfolding the fate of the GWMC poll contestants. The counting is slated to begin at 8 am and the first results are expected within half-an-hour after the counting begins. The final results are expected to be out by afternoon.

Municipal Commissioner Sarfaraz Ahmed on Tuesday said that a total of 390 staff would be engaged for counting which would be held in six halls at Enumamula market in Warangal. Each counting hall would have 14 tables, he added. There would be 14 counting supervisors in each hall along with equal number of counting assistants.

There would be 16 row officers in each hall while 12 counting staff would be engaged for counting the postal ballots, the Commissioner added. It might be recalled that a total of 398 candidates have contested for 58 divisions of the GWMC in the election that took place on March 6. Of the total 6,44,099 voters, 3,87,873 voters exercised their franchise registering 60.30 voting percentage.

While the ruling TRS is confident of sweeping the election, the low voter turnout had given raise to many speculations as such who would be benefitted and who would lose. TRS district president T Ravinder Rao, speaking to The Hans India, has expressed confidence that the TRS would win at least 54 divisions of the total 58.

However, the presence of large number of TRS rebel candidates in the contest is expected to cause a dent in the winning chances of the TRS. On the other hand, opposition parties like TDP, BJP and Congress are also hopeful of performing better in the election. "We would win anywhere between 10 to 12 wards in the election," a senior Congress leader said.