Panaji, March 8 : The Election Commission has made a foolproof arrangement for counting of votes polled for the Assembly elections held on February 14 in Goa. According to North Goa District Election Officer Ajit Roy, counting of votes will start at 0800 hrs in the morning on March 10. Observers appointed by the Election Commission have reviewed the arrangement of counting and expressed satisfaction. There will be a three-layered security arrangement. Security officials from state police and CRPF have been deployed for the job, Roy told reporters. The candidates have been asked to appoint their counting agents. In view of counting of votes at Government Polytechnic College, Altinho, Panaji, District Magistrate, North Goa, has ordered that all the licensed premises “for the sale of liquor” will remain closed from “0000 hrs of March 10, 2022 till the end of counting of votes polled for General Assembly Election 2022”. The District Magistrate, North has also ordered that Government Polytechnic College will remain non-functional to prevent any gathering of crowd and any Law & Order problem from March 7 to 11, in the view of counting of votes. Meanwhile, political parties have scaled up their parleys with like-minded parties to secure support, in case they fall short of magic numbers. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is in Delhi, where he called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi to brief about the political scenario in the state. Before leaving for the national capital, he said that Bharatiya Janata Party will seek support of independents, if it fails to secure 21 seats. Former on Minister P Chidambaram and party Goa Desk Incharge Dinesh Gundu Rao were already camping in Goa. Congress has kept all its candidates at a resort near the city. However, Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar said that they had assembled to celebrate the birthday of Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat. The Trinamool Congress, which has contested 26 seats in alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), has sent party leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien to Goa, ahead of the counting of votes. MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar expressed confidence that the alliance will emerge as kingmaker, post the counting of votes. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Goa Incharge Atishi is already in the state. Both Congress and BJP have hinted towards going for a post-poll alliance, in case they fail to win the required 21 seats. There are 301 candidates from different political parties fighting for 40 seats in the Legislative Assembly. AKM RJ