Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 4 (ANI): The counting of postal votes for the Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies of Tiruchirappalli East, Tiruchirappalli West, Thiruverumbur, Manapparai, and Srirangam in Tiruchirappalli district commenced on Monday at 8 AM.

TVK chief and former actor Vijay is contesting from Tiruchirappalli East too, with a lot depending on today's performance and his party's political debut in Tamil Nadu.

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is contesting the elections alone, against the NDA alliance led by AIADMK, along with the BJP. While the DMK led alliance, along with Congress, is looking to retain power in the state.

Election officials began the process early in the morning under tight security arrangements, marking the initial phase of vote counting for these key constituencies.

Visuals from Anna Arivalayam showed DMK workers intently watching the start of the election results on the edge of their seats.

In Tiruchirappalli East, Vijay is facing off against DMK's S Inigo Irudayaraj, and AIADMK's G Rajasekaran.

In Tiruchirappalli West, DMK's KN Nehru is looking to retain his seat against TVK's G Ramamoorthi.

Meanwhile, at Queen Mary's College counting centre, postal votes also began being counted. Extremely early leads in postal ballots have shown the DMK is the lead. In Chepauk Triplicane, DMK has received 21 postal votes, AIADMK 7, and TVK 6. In Harbour, DMK has 19, AIADMK 7, and TVK 9. In RK Nagar, DMK has 22 postal votes, AIADMK 7, TVK 11.

Royapuram has counted 10 for DMK, 7 for AIADMK, and 6 for TVK. Meanwhile, Thiruvikanagar has counted 9 for DMK, 5- AIADMK, and TVK - 10.

In Tamil Nadu, the political narrative appears relatively predictable after exit polls, though equally intense. The ruling DMK-led alliance is widely expected to retain power, supported by strong voter turnout and favourable exit polls.

Tamil Nadu is one of the four states (Assam, West Bengal, and Keralam) and the union territory of Puducherry, which will have its results for polling, which took place on April 23, with Bengal having the second phase of polling on April 29. (ANI)