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Counting of votes began on Thursday in the presidential election held on July 15 to choose a successor to K R Narayanan.
The process started at 1100 hours in Parliament House where ballot boxes had been kept after being brought from state capitals and Union Territories where the MLAs exercised their franchise.
Rajya Sabha Secretary General R C Tripathi, who is also the Returning Officer, unsealed the ballot boxes for the counting process. The result is expected to be announced by around 1500 hours.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made at the counting centre.
The victory of NDA nominee A P J Abdul Kalam is a foregone conclusion in the battle in which the arithmetic is heavily stacked against Left parties' candidate and Indian National Army veteran Colonel Lakshmi Sehgal.
A total of 735 members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, besides MLAs in states exercised their franchise in the election.
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