Dehradun, Aug. 1 -- The counting for three-tier panchayat elections was held peacefully on Thursday, a senior official said, adding that the counting process might get extended till Friday. At the time of writing this report, the results for 36 of 358 district (zila) panchayat members, 1,160 of 2,974 block development council members, and 4,412 of 7,499 village panchayat heads (pradhans) were declared in 89 development blocks in 12 districts as per the results available on the website of the state election commission. State election commission (SEC) secretary Rahul Kumar Goyal said they can't foresee the completion of the counting process. "It is a decentralised process....the results are being uploaded on the website of the state election commission immediately after its declaration at the counting centre in blocks and district headquarters....we can't foresee or predict when it will be completed...it may end by Thursday evening or can be completed by Friday morning......," he said. He said, "No untoward incident has taken place during the counting process.....it is taking place peacefully....if even recounting is to take place, the decision is taken by the returning officer.....we have stationed the observers, zonal magistrates at the counting centres to monitor the counting process." The polling for the first phase of panchayat elections was held on July 24 and second phase on July 28. As the counting for the elections was underway, both ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Opposition Congress claimed them to be in their favour. Garima Mehra Dasauni, chief spokesperson for the state Congress, said: "The results and trends of the panchayat elections clearly indicate that the people now want change. Rural communities are fed up with BJP's policies and neglect. The youth feel betrayed.....they wanted to dedicate their lives to serving the nation, but the government reduced their service to just four years under Agniveer scheme." She said, "People are also troubled by the growing menace of wild animals....they are destroying crops and even attacking locals. Promises of employment have remained unfulfilled, people are crushed under inflation, and recruitment scams like paper leaks have pushed the future of the youth into darkness. These results are just a trailer... the full picture will be seen in the 2027 assembly elections." Meanwhile, Manveer Singh Chauhan, state BJP media in-charge, said: "The results so far make it clear that people have once again reposed their faith in the BJP, reducing the Congress to near irrelevance. We are winning the majority of seats across all three tiers of the panchayat elections. This election clearly shows that BJP will win the 2027 assembly elections."...