ECI election results LIVE: BJP leads in Bengal, LDF defying exit poll projections in Kerala in very early trends

ELection results unrecorded: The Election charge of republic of india (ECI) has begun the counting of votes for gathering elections to 4 states - West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and the Union territory of Puducherry today, May 4. The outcome will likely be clear by evening. However, with a surprise ECI announcement on Saturday, all 285 polling stations in Bengal's Falta assembly seat will undergo repolling on May 21, and therefore won't be part of today's results announcement.Track updates here on Bengal election results LIVEIncluding Falta, West Bengal has 294 assembly seats, Tamil Nadu has 243, Kerala has a 140-member assembly, Assam has 126 seats and Puducherry has 30. While Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry voted in a single phase, Bengal saw two-phased polling.Most exit polls project a narrow win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, a state that experienced high political drama after allegations of EVM tampering and malfunction were made when the final phase of voting concluded.Track updates on Tamil Nadu election results LIVEIn Assam too, pollsters' projections favour the BJP, predicting a third consecutive term for the party. In Kerala, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) may unseat the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government from power, as per some exit polls. In Puducherry, the NDA may be poised for a victory and a similar fate was projected for the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu.Assam, Puducherry, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Bengal election | key factsTiming of election results: The ECI is expected to start counting votes for the elections in West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry at 8 am today and the picture may be clear by the evening. The counting process will start with postal ballots and move on to Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) about 30 minutes later.What is the majority mark in all places? In the 294-member Legislative Assembly of Bengal, the magic number to secure a victory is 148. The majority mark is 118 in Tamil Nadu, 71 in Kerala, 64 in Assam and 16 in Puducherry.How many candidates in fray? In West Bengal, 2,926 candidates were in the fray across both phases of elections. In Tamil Nadu, the figure was 4,023. In Assam, 722 candidates contested polls, 883 candidates in Kerala and 294 in Puducherry. In Kerala, Assam, Puducherry, elections took place on April 9 and Tamil Nadu went to polls on April 23, alongside West Bengal which saw the first phase of polls on the same day. The final phase in Bengal took place on April 29.Some key constituencies: In Bengal, some of the key seats are Bhabanipur, Nandigram, Bahrampur, Samserganj and Panihati. In Tamil Nadu, some key seats are Edappadi, Tiruchirappalli East, Kolathur, Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar, and Coimbatore South. In Assam, some key seats are Birsing Jarua, Srijangram, Dibrugarh, Dispur and Jalukbari. In Kerala, some key seats are Dharmadam, Peravoor, Beypore, Nemom and Palakkad, among others. In Puducherry, some important seats are Mannadipattu, Thattanchavady, Oosudu, Indiranagar and Muthialpet, among others.Where are the chief ministers contesting from? In Assam, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is contesting the Jalukbari seat. Meanwhile, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting the Bhabanipur seat against BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is contesting from the Dharmadam seat. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin is contesting the polls from his bastion Kolathur, and Puducherry chief minister N Rangasamy is contesting from the Thattanchavady seat.