Pawar congratulates Mamata, Vijayan and Stalin
Mumbai: NCP president Sharad Pawar congratulated Sunday, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and M K Stalin as their parties are all set to win the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu respectively. “Congratulations @MamataOfficial on your stupendous victory! Let us continue our work towards the welfare of people and tackling the Pandemic collectively,” tweeted Pawar. In another tweet, Pawar congratulated Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala, where the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front is all set to retain power as it is leading in at least 94 of the 140 assembly seats as counting is still in progress. “Congratulations to Mr. @vijayanpinarayi on a historical consecutive victory in the Kerala elections. Together we fought these elections and now together we will fight the battle against Covid!” Pawar said. While greeting DMK president Stalin, the former Union Minister said, “Congratulations @mkstalin on your win, a truly well deserved victory! Wishing you the best to serve people who have instilled their faith in you!”
Mamata wins from Nandigram
Kolkata: After trailing for most of the 17 rounds of counting West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo finally emerged victorious from the Nandigram constituency. She managed to defeat former TMC leader and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari by a slender margin. It was a very close fight though with Mamata emerging victorious by 1,201 votes. In fact even after the 16th round of counting, Adhikari was leading by six votes. However, the last round saw Mamata running away with the win.
BJP credits Mamata, throws in the towel
Kolkata: BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya credited Mamata Banerjee for the TMC’s astounding performance in Bengal elections, and said his party would introspect the poll results. Vijayvargiya had earlier claimed Sunday that initial trends were not the real indicators of the final outcome, and exuded confidence that his party will win the elections. However, his comments in the afternoon proved that BJP had thrown in the towel. The senior BJP leader stated that he was shocked to see BJP MPs Babul Supriyo and Locket Chatterjee trailing. “The TMC won because of Mamata Banerjee. It seems people have chosen Didi. We will introspect what went wrong, whether it was organisational issues, lack of face, insider- outsider debate. We will see what went wrong,” Vijayvargiya told reporters.
Prashant Kishor quits as election strategist
Kolkata: Election strategist Prashant Kishor announced Sunday that he will not work for political parties any more. He was quoted as saying by ‘India Today’ that he will not strategise anymore for political parties during elections. As his predictions of BJP winning less than 100 seats in the West Bengal Assembly elections, was slowly turning true, Kishor said that he has to face too much pressure to function as a’poll strategist’. He also said that during his entire career, he has ‘never seen a more partial Election Commission, it did everything to help BJP’.
Shiv Sena congratulates Mamata
Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut congratulated Mamata Banerjee as she is on her way to form the next government in West Bengal. His comments came after TMC candidates established leads in over 200 seats leaving the BJP way behind. The Shiv Sena did not contest the West Bengal polls, but extended its support to Banerjee. “We have to compliment Mamata didi that she accepted the BJP’s challenge and contested only from one seat. It is not easy to defeat Mamata, even though the BJP worked hard and put in a lot of investment to defeat her,” the Rajya Sabha member said. “We have no doubt that her party will form the next government in West Bengal,” he said.
NDA in control
Pondicherry: The AINRC-led NDA maintained its lead in 8 out of 30 assembly seats in Pondicherry. The Congress-led front was ahead in two segments as the counting of votes polled in the April 6 elections was underway. The AINRC is leading in five seats and its ally BJP in three, whereas the Congress and DMK are ahead in one each.
Yechury thanks Kerala voters
New Delhi: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury in a video message Sunday thanked Kerala’s electorate for showing confidence in the party and vowed that the Left party will continue to fight the challenges faced by people. The ruling LDF is all set to return to power in Kerala. It is leading in 88 seats of the 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala. “I thank the people of Kerala for reposing faith in an unprecedented manner in the way that the previous LDF government tackled all the challenges that the people have faced and also the pandemic scourge. The government gave a Kerala model to the world on how to handle the pandemic,” he said.
Mehbooba lauds Mamata
Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti congratulated Sunday the TMC on its performance in the West Bengal Assembly polls. She said people have rejected ‘disruptive and divisive forces’. In a tweet, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said, “Congratulations to @MamataOfficial @AITCofficial @derekobrienmp on their splendid victory today. Kudos to the people of West Bengal for rejecting disruptive & divisive forces
Akhilesh congratulates Mamata
Kolkata: Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav congratulated Mamata Banerjee and her party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for marching towards retaining power for the third successive term. According to the EC website at 2.00pm, the TMC is leading in more than 200 seats in West Bengal. Akhilesh said ‘politics of hate stands defeated’ in the state. Taking to Twitter, he said the ‘conscious public’ has given a befitting reply to BJP’s ‘Didi o Didi’ barbs. “Hearty congratulations to the conscious public, combative Mamata Banerjee ji and the dedicated leaders and activists of the TMC, who defeated the BJPs’s politics of hate in Bengal! This is a befitting reply to the insulting sarcasm ‘Didi O Didi’ from the BJP,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister tweeted with hashtag ‘#Didi_jio_didi’
History in making
Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala is all set to retain power. The LDF is leading at least in 94 of the 140 Assembly seats as counting are still in progress. If they win, they will buck the over four-decade-old trend of swinging between the Communists and the Congress- headed UDF in the southern state. The BJP-NDA combine is leading in three constituencies while the Congress-headed UDF is ahead in 44 segments. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is ahead over his nearest rival by over 13,000 votes in Dharmadam constituency in Kannur. At least four of his cabinetcolleagues, including TP Ramakrishnan (Perambra), MM Mani (Udumbanchola), K Krishnankutty (Chittur) and Kadannappally Ramachandran (Kannur) have already ensured their victory, but the EC is yet to announce it officially. While senior Congress leaders, including Ramesh Chennithala, Oommen Chandy, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and PT Thomas established leads, many front candidates are facing an uphill task. The drastic fall in the lead of Chandy in his home turf Puthuppally, which he has been representing for the last 50 years, has shocked the Congress camp. According to EC figures, Chandy could manage only a margin of 2,805 votes against his nearest rival and student leader Jaick C Thomas till 1.00pm.
Mamata takes slender lead
Kolkata: Finally the tension that her supporters were going through has eased a bit. After the completion of 11 rounds of counting, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken a slender lead of 3,327 votes over her BJP rival and one time protégé Suvendu Adhikari.
Mamata still trails
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continues to trail BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by over seven thousands after the completion of the sixth round of counting in the Nandigram Assembly constituency. Still 11 rounds of counting are yet to come. The Election Commission informed Sunday, that there will be delay in the counting process as some server problems have developed. Hence the announcement of the result of the Nandigram constituency will also be delayed.
Trinamool Congress builds huge leads
Kolkata: The ruling Trinamool Congress is set to retain power in the keenly-watched state of West Bengal. According to trends available for 284 out of 292 constituencies in West Bengal, the TMC was leading in 202 while the BJP in 77. Belying expectations of a tight contest, the TMC candidates appeared galloping to victory, and, if the current trends hold, the party will easily form its third successive government in the state.
BJP will retain Assam
Guwahati: In Assam, the ruling BJP-led NDA is surging ahead of the Grand Alliance spearheaded by the Congress in Assam, leading in 77 of the 119 seats, trends available on the Election Commission website. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal exuded confidence that the saffron party-led alliance will retain power in the state. Assam has a 126-member assembly and 64 seats are needed for a simple majority.
DMK set to wrest power
Chennai: The opposition DMK in Tamil Nadu is set to return to power as per the latest trends. The DMK combine is leading in 111 Assembly constituencies while the AIADMK front is ahead in 94 segments, according to trends provided by the Election Commission for 206 seats. Chief Minister K Palaniswami was comfortably leading in his home segment of Edappadi in Salem district, while Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam is trailing his main rival, DMK’s Thanga Tamilselvan, a former party colleague, by a thin margin.
PTI Photo
LDF sweeping to victory
Thiruvananthapuram: In Kerala, the ruling LDF is leading in 88 of the 140 Assembly constituencies while the opposition Congress-headed UDF was ahead in 50 segments.
BJP heavyweights trail
Kolkata: Two BJP MPs who are currently contesting from different constituencies in the West Bengal Assemble polls are currently trailing after the completion of the fifth round of counting. Union Minister and BJP MP, Babul Surpiyo is trailing from the Tollygunge constituency while Locket Chatterjee is behind in the Chunchura seat.
Mamata trails after fifth round of counting
Kolkata:The Nandigram Assembly constituency in West Bengal has been one of the most talked about one since Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that she would contest from it. Currently Banerjee is behind by a little over 3,000 votes after the completion of the fifth round of counting at Nandigram against her former protégé Subhendu Adhikari. However, it looks like that the Trinamool Congress is all set to return to power for the third time as they are leading in 203 seats in the 294-strong West Bengal Assembly.
Pondicherry tilts towards NDA with leads in 9 seats; SDA leads in 3
Pondicherry: The AINRC-led NDA was leading in nine seats while the Congress headed alliance was ahead in three segments after first round of counting of votes polled in April 6 elections, officials said. According to trends available till 10.30 am, AINRC chief N Rangasamy was leading in his constituency.
Early trend highlights DMK strength in Tamil Nadu polls
Chennai: Early trends indicated an edge for the DMK with the ruling AIADMK following behind and key leaders of both the fronts were leading in their respective segments. About an hour following commencement of counting of votes for the April 6 Assembly elections, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami was leading in his home segment of Edappadi in Salem district and leader of opposition and DMK president M K Stalin was ahead in Kolathur constituency here.
LDF leads in 75 seats in Kerala; UDF 56
Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling LDF in Kerala was leading in 75 of the total 140 seats while opposition UDF was ahead in 56 segments as counting of votes for the April 6 assembly elections got underway Sunday. Initial trends indicated that the BJP-led NDA is ahead in two seats-Palakkad, where ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan is contesting and Nemom, the lone seat won by the saffron party in the 2016 assembly polls.
Assam polls: NDA leads in 22 seats, Grand Alliance in 15 seats
Guwahati: The ruling BJP-led NDA is leading in 22 seats, while the Grand Alliance spearheaded by the Congress is ahead in 15 places, according to initial trends available from counting of postal ballots in Assam, officials said Sunday. The newly formed Assam Jatiya Parishad-Raijor Dal alliance is leading in four assembly seats. BJP candidates are leading in 16 seats, while those of its ally AGP in six. The Congress has established initial leads in 14 places and AIUDF in one.
West Bengal: TMC, BJP locked in neck-and-neck tussle; Suvendu leads in Nandigram
Kolkata: The TMC and challenger BJP were Sunday locked in a neck-and-neck contest in West Bengal. While the TMC was leading in 64 constituencies, the BJP in 60. The Left-Congress-ISF candidates are leading in three places.
According to early leads, BJP’s Suvendhu Adhikari is leading the hot-contested Nandigram seat where he is pitched against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Puducherry: Counting of votes begins amidst tight security, COVID protocol
Puducherry: Counting of votes polled in the April 6 Assembly elections in Puducherry began at 8 AM Sunday.
There are 30 Assembly constituencies spread over Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam regions. As many as 324 candidates jumped into poll fray and they included party-sponsored nominees and Independents.
Counting begins in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: Counting of votes polled in the April 6 Kerala assembly elections, began Sunday morning adhering to COVID-19 protocols. The postal votes were taken up for counting first when the counting began at 8 AM. The outcome will decide the fate of 975 candidates, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Opposition leader, Ramesh Chennithala, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy, ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan and former Union Minister K J Alphons.
Counting of votes for high-stakes Tamil Nadu Assembly election begins
Chennai: Counting of votes polled in the Tamil Nadu Assembly election held April 6 commenced Sunday across the state amid tight security and in tune with fresh COVID-19 guidelines. The exercise began at 8 am in 75 counting centres spread across the state with authorities taking up a count of postal ballots first, authorities said.
Counting begins for Assam assembly polls amid strict COVID-19 protocols
Guwahati: Counting of votes got underway Sunday morning for the Assam assembly elections, with most exit polls predicting a victory for the BJP-led alliance for the second time in a row. The electoral fate of 946 candidates including 74 women, who contested the three-phase polls for the 126-member assembly, will be decided during the exercise.
Counting begins for West Bengal assembly polls under tight security
Kolkata: Counting of votes polled in the West Bengal assembly elections began at 8 am Sunday under tight security and strict adherence to safety protocols, amid a raging second wave of COVID-19. Exit polls have forecast a tight contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP in the eight-phase elections to the 294-member assembly.