This Article is From May 13, 2011

Left may manage to hold onto Kerala

Left may manage to hold onto Kerala
New Delhi: Early leads suggest the Left Front may manage to win Kerala.  This suggests  VS Achuthananadan may buck the anti-incumbency trend and return as Chief Minister of Kerala.

Different rounds of counting are underway - the numbers will keep changing as the counting progresses.  

It's been a neck-and-neck race for the Congress-led UDF and the Left Democratic Front.  Independents are likely to play a key role.

The ruling CPM-led LDF and the opposition Congress-led, have been alternating in power since 1982.

The LDF swept the polls in 2006 grabbing 98 seats in the 140-member House, which was almost the reverse of the 2001 tally. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the LDF received a drubbing as the UDF grabbed 16 of the 20 Parliament seats from Kerala. The UDF again dealt a crushing blow to the LDF in last year's local body polls. The LDF only managed to recover some lost ground during the Assembly poll campaign.


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