New Delhi, May 4 -- Results day has arrived for one of the most expansive state election cycles in recent years, with votes being counted across West Bengal's 294 seats, Tamil Nadu's 234, Kerala's 140, Assam's 126 and Puducherry's 30. Counting began at 8:00 AM with postal ballots before moving to electronic voting machine rounds, with early trends expected to emerge by mid-morning and official declarations anticipated from 5:00 PM onwards.

Exit poll projections, while not always accurate, offer a preliminary indication of where mandates may be heading. Across all five states, pollsters were notably divided, with wide variance between agencies on several key outcomes.

West Bengal has been among the most fiercely contested battlegrounds o...