As a conclusion to the long political battle that began in March, votes for the Assembly polls in four states and a union territory (UT) will be counted on Sunday. The polls in West Bengal and Assam were held in multiple phases, from May 27 onwards, while those in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were held in a single phase on April 6.

Also read: Negative COVID report or complete vaccination mandatory to enter counting hall: EC

The couting of votes will begin at 8 am.

In West Bengal, where 294 seats are up for grabs, 108 counting centres have been installed. Several exit polls have predicted a hung Assembly in the state, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress is seeking another term. If the exit poll results come out to be true, it’ll be a big win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that currently has just 34 legislators in the House.

In Assam, which has 126 seats, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to retain power. CM Sarbananda Sonowal, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Congress Assam Pradesh chief Ripun Bora are the key contestants whose fate will be decided on Sunday.

In Kerala, as many as 957 candidates are in the fray for the 140 Assembly seats. Among the key contestants are CM Pinarayi Vijayan, 11 of his cabinet colleagues, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy, BJP state chief K Surendran, ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan, and former union minister, KJ Alphons. As per exit polls predictions, the southern state will witness a massive win for the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF).

In Tamil Nadu, nearly 4,000 candidates were in the fray for the 234 Assembly seats. Among the key contestants were CM K Palaniswami, Deputy CM O Panneerselvam, DMK president M K Stalin, his son and party youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, AIADMK’s rival and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam chief TTV Dhinakaran, MNM’s Kamal Haasan and BJP state unit chief L Murugan. Exit polls have predicted a win for the main opposition DMK.

Also read: What are exit polls?

In the UT of Puducherry, the former CM N Rangaswamy led All India NR Congress-BJP alliance and Congress-DMK combine are the key contenders for power. Exit polls have predicted a win for the front led by Rangaswamy.