Mamata Banerjee looks set to win a third term in Bengal, the DMK is heading for victory in Tamil Nadu, the BJP is leading in Assam and the LDF in Kerala in the counting of votes for state polls. Health warning - these are very early leads.
The latest forecast showed that the Trinamool is poised to get 205+ seats in Bengal, 140+ for the DMK in Tamil Nadu, 90+ for the BJP in Assam and in Kerala, 90 for the Left.
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has crossed the half-way mark in early leads in Bengal and is leading in 204 seats, though the BJP seems to have made gains since the 2019 national elections. The Chief Minister's Trinamool and the BJP ran a bitter, no holds barred campaign that defied Covid safety rules as well as the poll code. But Mamata Banerjee is trailing the BJP's Suvendhu Adhikari - her former close aide -- in Nandigram, which is the most-watched fight in Bengal.
In Assam, the BJP is leading in 81 of the 126 seats, far ahead of its nearest rival Congress, which campaigned hard to reclaim its one-time bastion.
In Tamil Nadu, the DMK crossed the half-way mark in early leads, ahead of the ruling AIADMK, which has an alliance with the BJP. MK Stalin's DMK and its allies are leading in 132 seats and the AIDMK, in 101.
In Kerala, the incumbent LDF is leading in 88 of the 140 seats and seems to be on its way to buck a 40-year tradition is the trend continues. The Congress-led UDF is leading in 47 seats.
