Election Results 2021 Live Updates| D-Day Dawns: Counting Begins For Four Key States And Puducherry

Election results for four states- Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu- and a union territory, Puducherry, will be declared today. The campaigning and voting were held while India battles a devastating second wave of Covid-19. Exit polls predict a close call in West Bengal, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress faces off against the BJP, which is expected to retain neighbouring Assam. Down south, Tamil Nadu is expected to throw a surprise with the DMK’s victory, while Congress is likely to lose Puducherry to the BJP. As for Kerala, the exit polls predict a win for the LDF. But these polls have often turned out to be totally off the mark.

There will be 2,364 counting halls as compared to 1,002 halls in 2016 in 822 assembly constituencies due to the coronavirus guidelines, says the Election Commission which drew flak from the courts over the conduct of polls during the pandemic. Apart from at least 15 rounds of sanitisation at each centre, social distancing and other precautions, including a ban on gatherings, will be strictly followed during the counting by 95,000 officials.

Here are the LIVE updates:

8:40 am: BJP is ahead in some seats in North Bengal. TMC leads in 6 seats. BJP is leading on 3 seats.

8:38 am: The Trinamool and BJP are at 36 each with the Left-Congress alliance at 1, NDTV reports. These, again, are postal ballots that are still being counted and not the main ballot rounds. In Kerala, the LDF is leading in 30 while the UDF is leading in 27. The BJP+ is at 3. These too are postal ballots.

8:20 am: Counting of votes has also begun for the bye-election to the parliamentary constituencies in Andhra Pradesh (Tirupati), Karnataka (Belagavi), Kerala (Malappuram) and Tamil Nadu (Kanyakumari). Votes are also being counted for the by-election to Vidhan Sabha in 10 states

8:16 am: Guwahati: Counting begins with postal ballot at 8 am. This year the number is 1,50,033, a 414 per cent rise over 2016. "It is now up to god," says sitting BJP MLA from Batadrava constituency Angoorlata Deka. (Outlook)

8:15 am: Kerala: Congress leader and former CM Oommen Chandy offers prayers at Puthuppally Church. He is also the party's candidate from Puthuppally Assembly constituency. (ANI)

8:00 am: Counting begins

7:47 am: Assembly Election 2021 Result LIVE: Majority Mark and Total Seats

West Bengal: Total Seats 294 (292 went to poll), Majority mark: 148
Tamil Nadu: Total Seats 234, Majority mark: 118
Kerala: Total Seats 140, Majority mark: 71
Assam: Total Seats 126, Majority mark: 64
Puducherry: Total seats 30+three nominated members; Majority mark: 17

7:45 am: The counting of votes to begin at 8 am today. 

7:30 am: Under Covid Cloud, Counting Today In Four States, One UT

The much-awaited counting of votes for the bitterly contested Assembly polls in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will start at 8 am tomorrow morning under the Covid-19 cloud. The voting that extended over a month – with polling in West Bengal stretching across long eight phases – the political parties, especially the BJP had come under severe criticism for holding large crowded political rallies as the pandemic raged. Read more