Guwahati: Exit poll estimates for the Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry are scheduled to be released starting 6:30 pm today.
Voting has already concluded in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, while the final phase of polling is still in progress in West Bengal.
As per Election Commission of India rules, exit poll results can only be made public after voting ends across all phases.
Along with the Assembly polls, by-elections were also held for eight constituencies across six states. On April 9, polling was conducted in five seats covering Goa’s Ponda, Karnataka’s Bagalkote and Devanagere, Nagaland’s Koridang and Tripura’s Dharmanagar.
The remaining three constituencies, Umreth in Gujarat and Rahuri and Baramati in Maharashtra, went to polls on April 23.
Voting in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry was completed in a single phase on April 9. Tamil Nadu also saw single-phase polling on April 23, while West Bengal is witnessing a multi-phase election, with the last round being held today after the first phase earlier.
The Election Commission will announce the final results for all Assembly elections and the bypolls on May 4, which is also the day when counting of votes will take place. Voting across all states typically starts at 7 am and continues until 6 pm, although polling stations remain open until every voter standing in queue has exercised their franchise.
The size of state Assemblies differs across regions. Assam has 126 seats, Kerala has 140, Tamil Nadu has 234, and West Bengal has 294 seats, while Puducherry has 30 seats. The number of seats required for a majority is 64 in Assam, 71 in Kerala, 118 in Tamil Nadu, 148 in West Bengal and 16 in Puducherry.
According to Election Commission guidelines, exit poll findings can only be published after a fixed restriction period. A mandatory blackout window is enforced during which no survey results or voting trend predictions are allowed to be released or broadcast. This restriction remains in place from 7 am on April 9 until 6:30 pm on April 29.