Vote counting for the West Bengal Assembly polls commenced at 8 a.m. today, starting with the counting of postal ballots. Unlike previous elections, this time, there is a new counting pattern in place. Initially, only postal ballots will be counted for the first 30 minutes.
Following this new process, both postal ballots and Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) votes will be counted simultaneously from 8:30 a.m. onwards. This change aims to ensure that postal ballot counting concludes before EVM vote counting. If postal ballot counting lags behind in any room, EVM vote counting will pause until the former is complete.
An official from the Chief Electoral Officer’s office mentioned that this revised method will provide a clear trend in the election results by noon. The counting is ongoing for 293 out of 294 Assembly constituencies in the state, with repolling scheduled for the Falta constituency on May 21.
The main contenders in West Bengal are the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the previous elections, Trinamool Congress secured 216 seats, followed by BJP at 77 and the All India Secular Front (AISF) at one. This time, Congress and the Left Front aim to regain their presence in the state Assembly.
