Dehra Dun, Feb 27 (UNI) Counting of votes for Uttarakhand's second Assembly elections and the Tehri-Garhwal parliamentary constituency bypoll started at 0800 hrs today, amid tight security.

The counting of votes, for the election held on February 21, started in the capital and various district headquarters in the presence of senior officials and observers, the state Election Commission said.

Tight security arrangements are in place in all the polling centres with a three-tier security cordon and additional security personnel close at hand.

The counting for the Tehri-Garhwal seat is being taken up first.

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of the sitting member, Manavendra Shah, on January 5. His son, Manujendra Shah (BJP), faces the Congress' Vijay Bahaguna, son of the redoubtable hill leader and former UP CM, the late Hemwati Nandan Bahaguna, in a 10-cornered fight.

Out of a total of 806 candidates for the assembly election, 785 were left in the fray for 69 seats of the 70-member Assembly after Bajpur Assembly election was deferred due to the death of the Congress candidate.

Preliminary trends are expected in about an hour, while the entire results are expected to be known by the afternoon.

UNI