Patna, May 23 (IANS): The counting of votes for all the 40 parliamentary seats of Bihar began on Thursday in 35 counting centres amid tight security, officials said.

According to the Election Commission officials, a total of 72,723 EVMs at the counting centres will decide the fate of 626 candidates, including 56 women.

The entire counting process will be videographed.

"First the postal ballots would be counted followed by EVMs," the officials said.

To maintain law and order, 1,700 personnel of central paramilitary forces have been deployed near the counting centres and thousands of Bihar Police officials deployed at sensitive places across the state.

Prominent candidates in the fray include Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Radha Mohan Singh, Ashwani Kumar Choubey, Ram Kripal Yadav, Giriraj Singh and R.K. Singh.

Also in the contest are senior Congress leader Tarique Anwar, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, LJD chief Sharad Yadav, former Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder daughter Misa Bharti.