The results of the much-anticipated five-state assembly elections will be released on Sunday. The counting of votes began at 8 AM on Sunday.

Elections were held for a total of 822 assembly seats in West Bengal, TamilNadu, Assam, Kerala states and Puducherry. West Bengal held the elections in eight phases, Assam voted in three and the remaining – Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry went for elections in a single phase on April 6.

In the last elections, a total of 1,002 counting halls were set up in all the respective states, this time, because of the pandemic situation, the Election Commission of India has set up 2,364 halls.

STATE	NUMBER OF COUNTING HALLS
West Bengal	1,113
Kerala	633
Assam	331
Tamil Nadu	256
Puducherry	31

Officials said the counting centres would be sanitized at least 15 times. The poll panel has also taken other measures to check the spread of infection. Rules such as wearing a mask and adhering to social distancing will be strictly enforced. People were not allowed to gather in groups at the counting centres. Any person violating Covid-19 protocols during the counting will face disciplinary action by the Election commission.

The total number of seats and the major mark are as follows:

STATE	*TOTAL SEATS*	MAJORITY MARK
West Bengal	294	217
Tamil Nadu	234	118
Kerala	140	71
Assam	126	73
Puducherry	33 (including three nominated)	11

Victory in West Bengal will bring BJP closer to its one-party ambition. For Mamata Banerjee, this could be a chance to emerge as a national leader.

J Jayalalithaa and MK Karunanidhi dominated the political space in Tamil Nadu for decades. After their demise, it is now the turn for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami or DMK Chief MK Stalin to take control and prove their worth.

Since 1983, the Left Democratic Front alliance and the Congress-led United Democratic Front have been winning in every alternate election. But, this time the chances of winning are likely for the Left Democratic Front.

The BJP participated in Assam elections in alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad and the United People’s Party Liberal. The Opposition parties are the Congress, the All-India United Democratic Front and the Left parties. Multiple exit polls have projected a win for the BJP.

Puducherry was the last Congress bastion in the South when a spate of resignations led to the fall of the V Narayanasamy-led government. The Congress hopes to regain its foothold, while the All-India NR Congress aims to ride the anti-incumbency wave and come back to power.