Haryana vote counting advanced by four days

The counting of votes cast in the Haryana Assembly polls has been advanced by four days to February 23.

The counting of votes cast in the Haryana Assembly polls has been advanced by four days to February 23, the Election Commission announced on Thursday.

HT Image

Counting for the elections to the 90-member assembly, held on February 3 along with the first round of polling in the three-tier polls in Bihar and Jharkhand, would take place on February 23 from 4 pm.

"We decided to finish the process early instead of waiting for the other two states," Deputy Election Commissioner AN Jha said.

He said that by 4 pm, the final round of polling in Bihar and Jharkhand would be more or less over, so the counting of ballots for Haryana could begin.

Though no other reason was given, it was speculated that the poll panel wanted to get Haryana out of the way before getting down to the polls in Bihar and Jharkhand, where security is a major concern.

Also, Haryana's ruling Indian National Lok Dal has repeatedly complained about the 24-day gap between the election and verdict.