An air of expectancy and political maneuvering began at Alimuddin Street, the CPI-M headquarters, as the Left Front swept the Bengal assembly polls to the 14th state assembly.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose told reporters in his habitual confident manner, "We will garner more seats than the last assembly elections. People have gone out and voted for us."

In Pondicherry, the Congress-led Democratic Progressive Alliance retained power, winning 17 of the 25 seats declared by 1300 hours.

With the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam combine winning nine seats till 1300 hours, even if they emerge victorious in all five remaining seats, they cannot overtake the DPA tally.

Tamil Nadu seems well on its way to have its first coalition government, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led Democratic Progressive Alliance gaining an absolute majority in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, winning 126 seats of the 169 results declared so far.

Dealing a big blow to the UDF, the CPI-M-led LDF on Thursday swept to power in Kerala winning 98 seats in the 140-member Assembly. 

Assam is all set to have a coalition government with the ruling Congress unlikely to reach the magical half-way mark on its own in the 126-member assembly.

With trends available for 104 constituencies, the Congress has won three seats and was leading in 45 others. The party held 72 seats in the outgoing assembly.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday won a resounding victory from the family bastion of Rae Bareli, which she reclaimed with a record margin of 4,17,888 votes. 

Complete coverage: Assembly elections