Prohibitory orders clamped around vote counting centre

Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh on Wednesday visited the counting centre in Rosario school in Pandeshwar.

She reviewed the arrangements made to ensure peaceful counting of votes polled during the elections to the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Council held on November 12.

The counting will be conducted in 12 rooms of the centre. Counting in five was entrusted to 12 tahsildars.

Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Dr P S Harsha, as a precautionary measure, imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 for a radius of 200 metres from the counting centre.

The police have also banned visitors from carrying cell phones into the counting centre, he added.

Police security has been strengthened at the counting centre. People have been warned against bursting any crackers or organising victory processions after the MCC council election results were made public by election officials.

Also, speculations were rife on who would gain a majority in the MCC council elections. The Congress has won as many as five out of the six elections held to the council.

Members of each party claimed that their party would trounce the opponents in the elections.