Counting of votes polled in the Kerala and Tamil Nadu Assembly election commenced on Sunday across the state amid tight security and in tune with fresh COVID-19 guidelines.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, according to several exit polls results, is in a pole position, as not a single one has said the Congress-led UDF will win. If this turns out to be true, Vijayan will go down in the history of Kerala as the first to lead a sitting government back to office, and since the last four days, that is the only thing one has heard the Left leaders including Vijayan saying time and again. The Congress-led Opposition, however, has shot it down as nothing but wishful thinking, claiming they are going to form the next government.

IN Tamil Nadu, with exit polls predicting a landslide victory for the DMK which was in opposition for 10 years, the outcome is crucial for the ruling AIADMK as well, which dismissed the prediction and expressed confidence that it would retain power for the second time in a row.

There are nearly 4,000 (3,998) candidates in the fray, including top AIADMK leaders, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, DMK president M K Stalin and his son and party youth wing secretary, Udhayanidhi Stalin, who is seeking to enter the Assembly for the first time.

Sunday being a complete lockdown in Tamil Nadu to help curb the spread of coronavirus, the roads were deserted and over one lakh police personnel have been deployed as part of security measures for the vote counting day.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal says, 'Such victory is of no use'

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