Final tally and vote share, according to Election Commission
AIADMK - 134 seats (vote share 40.8 percent)
DMK - 89 seats (vote share 31.6 percent)
Congress - 8 seats (vote share 6.4 percent)
IUML - 1 seat
BJP - No seat (vote share 2.8 percent)
The results were still coming in from Tamil Nadu. At about 4 p.m., the Election Commission had said that the AIADMK had won 40 seats and leading in 96 constituencies, while its rival had won 26 seats and leading in 63 constituencies. The Congress had won two and leading in six constituencies. The Indian Union Muslim League had won one seat.
Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi had won from their respective constituencies (Dr Radhakrishna Nagar/RK Nagar and Thiruvarur). M K Stalin, son of Karunanidhi, also won from Kolathur constituency.
Updates:
AIADMK supporters seen celebrating outside party headquarters
1.27 p.m. IST — AIADMK alliance leads in 128 constituencies, DMK alliance in 102, according to latest update.
11.49 a.m. IST — LEADS TALLY FOR 229 SEATS ACCORDING TO ELECTION COMMISSION:
AIADMK 132, DMK 83, CONGRESS 11, PMK 2, PUTHIYA TAMILAGAM 1.
11.34 a.m. IST — Narendra Modi â€@narendramodi 20m20 minutes ago
"Had a telephone conversation with Jayalalithaa ji and congratulated her on her victory. Also conveyed my best wishes to her" @AIADMKOfficial
11.27 a.m. IST — Latest lead status by Election Commission: AIADMK 136, DMK 75, Congress 10, PMK 3.
11.26 a.m. IST — J Jayalalithaa leading in RK Nagar constituency.
11.25 a.m. IST — 92-year-old M Karunanidhi (DMK chief) leading in Thiruvarur.
11.24 a.m. IST — Vanathi Srinivasan of BJP leading in Coimbatore South.
11.15 a.m. IST — Vijayakanth's DMDK-led PWF leading in 3, PMK in 3.
11.10 a.m. IST — Sun TV shares down 11 percent on BSE.
11.05 a.m. IST — Jayalalithaa's AIADMK alliance is leading in 137 seats, DMK alliance in 83.
10.59 a.m. IST — Jayalalithaa's AIADMK seems poised to create history by breaking a 32-year-old jinx. The AIADMK alliance is leading in over 130 seats, information posted by the Election Commission of India shows.
10 a.m. IST — AIADMK alliance seems to have taken a decisive lead over DMK alliance. Most channels and dailies are saying the AIADMK alliance is firmly ahead of the DMK alliance.
9.52: IST — AIADMK alliance leading in 116, DMK alliance in 81
9.36 a.m. IST — Virugambakkam, Kolathur, Villivakkam, Chepauk-Triplicane, DMK seems to be leading in majority of Chennai, except T Nagar, says The New Indian Express.
9.26 a.m. IST — AIADMK alliance continues to consolidate position, leading in 100 seats. DMK alliance trails behind with 78 seats, DMDK not in the picture, says Times of India
9:21 a.m. IST — AIADMK alliance leading in 94, DMK alliance in 77, says Dina Malar.
9.16 a.m. IST — Trends available for 123 seats - AIADMK alliance leading in 71, DMK alliance in 53, BJP in 2, says NDTV.
9.14 a.m IST — J Jayalailithaa leads in RK Nagar constituency by 1906 votes, says The New Indian Express.
9.11 a.m. IST — AIADMK alliance leading in 87, DMK alliance in 73, says The Times of India.
9.11 a.m. IST — AIADMK alliance leading in 83, DMK alliance in 72, says Dina Malar.
9.05 a.m. IST — AIADMK alliance leading in 72, DMK alliance in 62, says Dina Malar.
9.03 a.m. IST — Dr Anbumani Ramadoss of PMK trailing in Pennagaram, says NDTV.
9.01 a.m. IST — Counting of votes polled in Chengalpattu Constituency was delayed as the key of the strong room was reportedly missing! Hence, counting of votes was delayed by 45 minutes as the officials opened the strong room using the duplicate key at around 8:40 a.m., says The Hindu.
8.58 a.m. IST — M Karunanidhi (DMK chief) leading in Tiruvarur, says Dina Malar.
8.56 a.m. IST — AIADMK leading in all three constituencies in Nilgiris, says The New Indian Express.
8.54 a.m. IST — HUGE SWING, AIADMK leading in 66, DMK in 64, says Dina Malar.
8.53 a.m. IST — AIADMK leading in Nilagiri, says Dina Malar.
8.51a.m. IST — DMK leading in 58, AIADMK in 52, says Dina Malar.
8.46 a.m. IST — DMK leading in 35, AIADMK in 28, says Dina Malar.
8.45 a.m. IST — Colachel: 325 postal votes from defence personnel has no seal of origin of posting. 323 AIADMK, 2 for NOTA. Cong, BJP opposed, says The Hindu.
8.40 a.m. IST — #DMK @arivalayam leads in postal votes - Saidapet, Thiruvaiyar, Tiruchendur, Sozhavandan constituencies #TNElectionResults, tweets Deccan Chronicle.
8.37a.m. IST — DMK takes decisive lead, ahead in 12, AIADMK leads in 7.
8.33: a.m. IST — AIADMK leading in 6, DMK in 12, says Dinamalar.
8.31: a.m. IST — DMK-led alliance are leading at Orathanadu constituency.
8.30: a.m. IST — AIADMK leading in 4, DMK in 5, says Tamil daily Dinamalar.
8.27 a.m. IST — #TNElectionResults hashtag is buzzing...6,000 tweets and counting.
8.13 a.m.: IST — It's drizzling in Vellore. 3 counting centres for thirteen constituencies and Postal vote counting started in Vellore, says The New Indian Express.
8.09 a.m. IST — "Waiting for #TNElectionResults , Hope it bring some change, if not be ready to cry for next 5 Years," Visiga Arun Kumar, a keen Tamil Nadu resident, tweets.
7.57 a.m.IST — Counting all set to begin within five minutes from now. "Switched on the TV !! All set !! Waiting for the counting to start !!," tweets an eager Vijay fan.
Original story
Counting of votes for the assembly elections held in Tamil Nadu on Monday along with Kerala and Puducherry will begin on Thursday (May 19) from 8 a.m. While trends will emerge by 11 a.m., the entire process of vote counting is expected to be over by 3 p.m.
The counting from Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will commence half an hour after the postal ballots are counted, PTI reported, referring to Election Commission guidelines.
Of the 234 constituencies, voting was held for 232 while polling for two seats, Aravakurichi and Thanjavur, was postponed due to electoral malpractices.
By late afternoon, it will be clear who of the two main contenders – Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK and archrival M Karunanidhi of the DMK – will occupy Fort St George, the seat of power in the state.
The People's Welfare Front – a rainbow coalition of smaller parties – will end up as marginal players, suggest exit poll results.
A majority of the exit polls has predicted a victory for the DMK-Congress combine. The poll of polls has given 120 seats for the coalition, just above the halfway mark to form a government. The maximum seats for this combine is 140 (by News X) and the minumum 78 (by C Voter).
C Voter expected the AIADMK to buck the anti-incumbency trend and gave it 139 seats. The BJP is expected to win one seat according to India Today and ABP Nielsen while others do not expect the saffron party to open an account.
Tamil Nadu Assembly poll statistics at a glance
In the Assembly polls held on Monday, 4.28 crore voters turned up to vote to decide the fate of about 3,700 candidates in the fray. Women voters at 2.12 crore outnumbered men by about 4 lakh, Deccan Chronicle reported, quoting Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Lakhoni.
The final poll percentage was 74.26 percent and counting will be held at 68 centres, the daily reported.
Apart from the AIADMK and the DMK, other parties contesting the Assembly elections are the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI-M and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), besides about 1,560 independent candidates, according to an update by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
What happened in 2011
In the previous Assembly elections held in May five years ago, the AIADMK dethroned the DMK by winning 150 seats. The DMK won 23 while the DMDK settled at 29 seats. The two Communist parties won 19 seats while the Congress ended up with just five seats, according to ECI data.
In all, 3.68 crore valid votes were cast at 54,315 polling stations to elect from a pool of 2,748 candidates who were in the fray.
