Polling in 4 states, 1 UT underway: Will regional parties be able to tide over the BJP wave?

Amid high-octane campaign battle, Assembly polls for 4 states — West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala — and one union territory — Puducherry — began on Tuesday morning. Voting will end at 7 pm.

A total of 475 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, Bengal, Puducherry will go to polls today.

This is the third phase of polling in WB and Assam and the single-phase poll in TN, Kerala and Assam. People wearing masks and maintaining social distance were seen queuing outside polling stations as the fate of these polls will decide the wave of BJP's popularity across the country and whether regional parties will be able to counter the ruling party at the Centre.

The votes for all Assembly polls will be counted on May 2.

Tamil Nadu

Polling in 234 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu to decide the fate of 3,998 candidates including heavyweights like Chief Minister K Palaniswami, deputy CM O Panneerselvam, DMK President M K Stalin, AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran and Makkal Needhi Maiam President Kamal Haasan began early on Tuesday.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections Live on DH

Over 6.28 crore voters are gearing up to exercise their franchise in an epic election that will choose the new generation leaders of Tamil Nadu, is being held under the cloud of allegations of rampant use of money by political parties to buy votes.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the number of poll booths has been increased to 88,937 from the previous figure of around 67,000. Poll officials said the maximum number of voters in a booth is 1,000 voters.

The election to elect the 16th assembly is unique in more ways than one as this is the first state poll without the presence of stalwarts M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa. While the DMK alliance has projected M K Stalin as the Chief Ministerial face, the AIADMK made incumbent Edappadi K Palaniswami its nominee for the top post this election.

While the number of female voters eligible to vote is 3.19 crore, the number of male voters stands at 3.09 crore. As many as 7,192 people from the third gender will also be eligible to vote.

Assam

In Assam, polling for 40 seats in the final phase of the assembly elections in Assam began at 7 am and this will decide the fate of 337 candidates, including senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Altogether 79,19,641 voters -- 40,11,539 men, 39,07,963 women and 139 of the third gender -- are entitled to exercise their franchise in 11,401 polling stations.

A total of 45,604 polling personnel have been deployed for this phase.

A direct contest between nominees of the BJP-led NDA and Congress-headed Grand Alliance is on the cards in 20 constituencies while there is a triangular fight, including friendly contests, in the remaining seats with the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) being considered as the third force.

The fate of 20 sitting MLAs — eight from the Congress, five from the BJP, three each from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and the BPF and one from the AGP -- will be decided in the final phase.

Besides Himanta Biswa Sarma, other ministers who are in the fray included Chandra Mohan Patowary, Siddhartha Bhattacharya and Phanibhushan Choudhury.

The BJP is contesting in 20 seats while its allies the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in nine and the United Peoples Party Liberal in eight, including a friendly contest between the BJP and the UPPL in Bijni.

The Congress has put up 24 candidates and its partners — the AIUDF in 12, the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) in eight and CPI(M) in one. The Congress and the AIUDF are engaged in friendly contests in the five constituencies of Jaleswar, Baghbar, Sarukhetri, Chenga and Barkhetri.

Kerala

In Kerala voting is underway for the 140 seats in a single phase election to the state assembly, amid heavy security.

'Metroman' E Sreedharan, who is the BJP-NDA candidate from Palakkad constituency was among the early voters in the state. "I have cast my vote, have good expectations", he told reporters after excercising his franchise at a polling booth in Ponnani. Long queues were seen in several polling stations much before the polling began. Kerala had witnessed a fierce campaign in the run up to the polls by the ruling CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front (LDF), Opposition Congress led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP led NDA. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, seven of his cabinet colleagues, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy are among the 957 candidates in fray in the state.

Kerala Assembly Elections Live on DH

74 crore voters will decide the fate of the contestants.

West Bengal

In Bengal, polling for 31 seats in the third phase of the assembly elections began amid tight security, officials said.

West Bengal Assembly Elections Live on DH

Over 78.5 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 205 candidates, including BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta, state minister Ashima Patra and CPI(M) leader Kanti Ganguly.

The Election Commission has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in all the constituencies, declaring them as 'sensitive'.

The elections for the 294 assembly seats in West Bengal are being held in eight phases.

Puducherry

Single-phase elections in the UT are underway simultaneously in all the 30 constituencies spread over Puducherry (23), Karaikal (5) and Mahe and Yanam regions (having one constituency each).

A total of 324 candidates, who are either party-sponsored nominees or independents, are in the fray. The Union Territory has a total strength of 10,03,681 voters with 1,588 polling booths in Puducherry and the outlying regions.

(Compiled form DHNS, PTI inputs)