What's the Voter Turnout Difference Between 2026 and 2021 in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry

Counting of votes will be held on Monday in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry and West Bengal after a riveting high-voltage contest with the outcome crucial for prominent ruling regional parties like the TMC and DMK as well as the BJP, Congress and the Left.The exercise will begin at 8 am, starting with the postal ballots, at the counting centres, which will have a three-tier security system. In a first, the Election Commission has introduced a QR code-based Photo Identity Card system through ECINET to prevent unauthorised entry into counting centres.Votes will be counted across 77 centres for 293 assembly seats in West Bengal, which has witnessed unprecedented security deployment this time and an acrimony-filled run-up to the result day,

with both the ruling TMC and opposition BJP expressing apprehensions of vote manipulation.The two-phase polls in the state ended on April 29, with its highest-ever voter turnout of 92.47 per cent since Independence.The election was countermanded in one constituency - Falta - in South 24 Parganas district due to “severe electoral offences" and fresh polls will be held there on May 21.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) is hoping to win its fourth consecutive term by overcoming a spirited challenge from the main opposition BJP, while the CPI(M) and the Congress are trying to reclaim a foothold following their wipeout in the 2021 polls. Smaller parties like Humayun Kabir’s AJUP and Asaduddin Owasi’s AIMIM are also trying their luck in some crucial pockets.The poll body has scaled down the number of counting centres this year to 77 from 87 announced earlier, and 108 in 2021, while putting in place a multi-layered security grid.