New Delhi [India], May 3 (ANI): As Assam prepares for the counting of the assembly elections, the Election Commission of India has outlined the high-security counting centres where the fate of 722 candidates across all 126 Assembly Constituencies will be decided.

On Monday, the counting of postal ballots will begin at 8:00 AM, and EVM vote counting will commence across 14 dedicated tables per centre at 8:30 AM.

The Election Commission has designated 52 distinct counting locations across 35 districts, ranging from prestigious universities to local school halls, to serve as the nerve centres for the counting process.

Locations include Bodoland University (Kokrajhar), Bhattadev University (Bajali), Nalbari College, and Karimganj College.

Several Higher Secondary (HS) and Multi-Purpose (MP) schools are also utilised, such as Govt Boys HS & MP School in Kokrajhar and Dawson HS & MP School in Nagaon.

In districts like Goalpara, Majuli, and Dima Hasao, the counting will take place at the Office of the District Commissioner.

Additionally, venues such as the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre in Guwahati (Kamrup Metro) and the Inter-State Truck Terminal in Cachar have also been utilised for the counting process.

As the state prepares for the final count, these locations are under multi-tier security cordons.

In Lakhimpur district, authorities have established a rigorous three-layer security cordon at the Lakhimpur Government Higher Secondary School to safeguard the integrity of the process for five key Assembly constituencies.

Lakhimpur Deputy Commissioner Aditya Vikram Yadav told ANI that the administrative machinery is primed for a 126-seat battle that will determine if the BJP-led alliance can secure a historic third consecutive term.

In Sivasagar district alone, 391 officials have been deployed to oversee the Demow, Sivasagar, and Nazira constituencies.

The Sivasagar district administration has completed all necessary preparations for the upcoming vote counting across three key Legislative Assembly constituencies, namely 95-Demow, 96-Sivasagar, and 97-Nazira.

To ensure the process remains transparent and seamless, a total of 391 officials have been deployed to oversee the proceedings.

In accordance with election protocols, officials will prioritise the counting of postal ballots, for which specific arrangements have been made across the district.

Assam went to the polls in the first phase of the election on April 9. The BJP-led alliance is looking for a third straight victory in the polls in a state which has traditionally been a Congress bastion.

Congress stitched a six-party alliance to prevent a split in the anti-BJP vote and present a united face in front of the people in the northeastern state. The state has 126 assembly seats.

Exit polls projected that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is poised to retain power for a third successive term. Axis My India projected that the BJP-led NDA would secure 88 to 100 of 126 seats and the Congress-led alliance 24 to 36 seats.

JVC predicted 88-101 seats for the NDA and 23-33 seats for the Congress-led alliance. It gave 0-2 seats to AIUDF and three to others. Matrize projected 85-95 seats for the BJP-led alliance, 25-32 for the Congress-led alliance, and 6-12 seats for others. (ANI)