The counting of votes for the three-tier panchayat polls to nearly 74,000 seats is underway in West Bengal amid tight security, officials said.
The Trinamool Congress is leading in nearly 18,000 seats. Its nearest rival BJP is leading in more than 4,000 out of 63,229 seats, according to the latest declarations.
There are around 339 counting venues spread across 22 districts.
"The counting, which began at 8 am, is likely to continue for the next two days. It will take time for the ballots to be counted and the results to be compiled. We are hopeful that a trend will be available by the end of the day," an SEC official said.
All the counting venues will be manned by armed state police personnel and central forces, with prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC being imposed outside the venue to avoid any untoward incidents.
