West Bengal has voted Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress back to power. The BJP will not add another state to its expanding kitty this afternoon. With votes being counted in five states, a clear picture had emerged around 4pm.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Bengal, the ruling LDF in Kerala and the DMK-Congress combine in Tamil Nadu have crossed halfway marks in leads. The only good news this morning has come the BJP’s way from Assam, which it looks set to retain.

The elections were controversially held amid a deadly second wave of coronavirus. Bengal voted in eight phases and by the last few phases there was deep concern over crowded election rallies and voting booths full of unmasked people.

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The BJP government at the Centre has faced angry attacks over the unchecked rise in COVID 19 cases and the country’s health infrastructure coming under siege. It has been accused of prioritising politics over the well-being of people by going ahead with elections and green-flagging events like the Kumbh Mela.

Has that impacted election results today? A closer look at the 5 states where votes are being counted today

West Bengal (294 seats. To win, 147)

The Trinamool Congress is leading in 212 of West Bengal’s 294 seats (elections were held in 292). The BJP is leading in 78 seats. A party or alliance needs 147 seats today to form the government. If all leads turn to wins, Mamata Banerjee is set for her third consecutive big victory in Bengal.

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In 2011, uprooting the Left after 34 years of rule, Mamata Banerjee had won 184 seats, with her then-ally the Congress winning 42. The Left had won 40. The BJP, zero.

In 2016, the TMC had won 211 seats. The Congress won 44, Left 28, BJP 3.

In the 2019 national election, the BJP gave Mamata a scare, winning 18 seats to the TMC‘s 22. With a vote share of 41%, it reckoned it was ready for 2021.

Today’s numbers validate the massive growth of the BJP in Bengal in only 10 years. But the party will have to wait for another day to rule Bengal.

Tamil Nadu (234 seats. To win, 118)

In Tamil Nadu, the DMK-Congress alliance has staged a comeback after 10 years in the first election since the death of the AIADMK’s J Jayalalitha and DMK’s M Karunanidhi died. The AIADMK and BJP contested together as partners in the National Democratic Alliance.

The DMK alliance is leading in 156 seats, while the AIADMK alliance is leading in 76 seats. Actor Kamal Haasan is trailing in the Coimbatore (South seat) to BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan by around 400 votes.

Kerala (140 seats. To win, 71)

Kerala has voted Chief Minister Pinnarayi Vijayan of the Left coalition LDF back to power. This will end Kerala’s 50-year cycle of switching between the LDF and the Congress-led UDF. The LDF is ahead in 92 seats, the UDF in 40.

The Left had lost the 2011 assembly election narrowly to the UDF 68-72, but had won 91 seats in 2016, to the Congress coalition’s 47. Kerala has 140 assembly seats and a party or alliance needs 71 to form government.

The BJP is not leading in any seat, a setback from its one win in 2016.

Assam (126 seats. To win, 64)

Assam sends the BJP some warmth today with the party’s coalition leading in 74 seats and set to return. The BJP, irrelevant for many years in Congress stronghold Assam, had won the northeastern state for the first time in 2016.

Puducherry (33 seats – 30 elected, 3 nominated. To win, 16)

The BJP’s coalition, which has projected as its face the popular N Rangaswamy of the All India NR Congress, is headed towards power in Puducherry.

Elections were held weeks after the Congress government in the state collapsed after six MLAs of the ruling coalition resigned ahead of a trust vote.