The electronic voting machines will be opened at 8 am.
The counting of votes for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand is all set to begin today. The BJP is hoping to gain majority in both states, where regional parties have been in power. Exit polls have predicted a majority for the BJP in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly. But in Jammu and Kashmir, a hung house has been predicted, with the opposition People's Democratic Party emerging as the single largest party in the 87-member assembly.
Here is your 10-point cheatsheet to the story:
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has ruled out a post-poll alliance with the BJP in view of the party's stand on Article 370, Uniform Civil Code and Babri Masjid, calling it "irreconcilable" with the views of his party, the National Conference.
Mr Abdullah said no lines of communication have been opened for post-poll alliance with any other party. "What remains to be seen is how close to these so-called exit polls, the actual number stacks up," he said.
Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a record turnout of 65% despite boycott calls by separatists and several militant attacks ahead of key phases of polling.
The state is witnessing a four-cornered fight between the ruling NC, main opposition PDP, the BJP and the Congress, which parted ways with the NC ahead of the polls.
In Jharkhand, exit polls have given BJP and its ally All Jharkhand Students Union, or AJSU, 47 seats in the 81-member assembly.
The BJP has promised a stable government in Jharkhand, which in the 14 years since its creation, has seen nine governments and three stints of President's Rule. Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, all key leaders of the party had campaigned in the state.
The Maoist-affected state registered an overall 66% turnout- up from 56.9% polling in the 2009 assembly polls.
With the BJP setting itself a target of Mission 50-Plus in Jammu and Kashmir, all key leaders of the party had campaigned extensively in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held an election rally in Srinagar - a first by the BJP in the Valley.
In the general elections this year, the BJP registered its best ever performance ever in Jammu and Kashmir, winning three of the six Lok Sabha seats. The PDP had won the other three, the Congress-National Conference alliance was routed.
In Jharkhand too, the BJP posted a superlative result in the Lok Sabha polls, winning 12 of the state's 14 seats.
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