Guwahati: Assam has fortified its security arrangements for the counting of votes with 93 companies of the state armed police already deployed across districts, along with two additional CRPF companies on static duty, Assam chief electoral officer Anurag Goel said. On counting day, 85 Assault Groups will be mobilized to ensure smooth proceedings, he said.Goel said 25 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and 13 companies of the state armed police, deployed in the innermost and second security cordons of the strong room on poll day on April 9, will continue to remain in place until the results are declared on May 4.“We can say with full confidence that the strong rooms have not been compromised,” Goel said while refuting allegations of security lapses in the EVM storage facilities by some opposition leaders.On the day of counting, an additional 800 unarmed police personnel will oversee the movement of EVMs from strong rooms to counting centres.Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, the CEO said 5,981 counting officers, mostly state govt employees, and 2,348 micro observers from the central govt will be deployed across 40 counting centers in the state on the counting day.“There will be 40 counting centers across the 35 districts of Assam. Kokrajhar, Tinsukia and Jorhat will be having two counting centers each, while Nagaon will have three such facilities. Remaining districts will have one center each,” he added. The CEO said the Election Commission has deployed 126 senior IAS officers as counting observers from outside the state to conduct the counting process smoothly and in a transparent manner.A record 85.96% of Assam’s 2.51 crore electorate exercised their franchise on April 9. This marked the highest voter turnout in the state’s history, surpassing the previous high of over 84% recorded in 2016.The CEO further said different enforcement agencies seized various items, including liquor and cash worth over Rs 114 crore, across the state from March 15 to April 27.Voting for the Assam assembly was conducted in a single phase across 31,490 polling stations on April 9. A total of 722 candidates, including 59 women, were in the fray.
