Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF is all set for a thumping victory in Kerala with leads in 96 seats. The Kerala Chief Minister has won from the Dharmadam constituency by a margin of over 50,000 votes. The Left alliance had sought a historic second term in a state that alternates between the alliances. Even the poll of exit polls had predicted a change to the pattern, allocating 85 of 140 seats to the LDF alliance and 53 to the Congress-led UDF. The Kerala Election Results 2021 is expected today.
The Opposition alliance UDF is leading in 43 seats and the BJP has failed to register a mark in the state.
Kerala voted in a single phase to elect 140 MLAs to the state Assembly. The state had registered a voter turnout of 73.40 per cent. The counting of votes began at 8 am today.
The Kerala Assembly Elections 2021 were held with strict adherence to anti-coronavirus protocols. Wearing of masks and maintaining proper social distance was made mandatory during the entire election process. The number of polling booths was increased for staggered voting.
In the 2016 elections, the CPIM-led Left Democratic Front or LDF had won the majority of votes. The main fight in the state is between the LDF and the Congress-led UDF. While Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hopes to form the government for the second consecutive term, the Congress, which had won 19 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala in 2019, is banking on the anti-incumbency factor.
The BJP, which has only one MLA in the state Assembly, hopes to win a toehold in the state.
Here are the Updates on the Kerala Assembly Elections Results 2021:
BJP candidate "Metroman" E Sreedharan loses to Congress' Shafi Parambil by a margin of 3,859 votes from Palakkad.
Former Chief Minister and Congress candidate Oommen Chandy wins by a margin of 9,044 votes from Puthupally constituency, reported news agency PTI.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wins by a margin of 50,123 votes from Dharmadam constituency, reported news agency PTI.
"The news that the swearing-in ceremony will take place tomorrow is not true. The resignation will be submitted when I reach Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow. The rest will be decided after discussion with the party and the Front," said Pinarayi Vijayan, reported news agency ANI.
"On behalf of DMK, I congratulate Comrade @vijayanpinarayi for leading his party to victory in the Kerala state elections. His measured and decisive leadership has been instrumental in helping Kerala achieve great heights and I wish him another very successful tenure," tweeted MK Stalin.
"Top BJP leaders had announced that they were moving towards forming a government. At that point, we were told that their current account here would be closed in this election. BJP leaders, including the PM, Home Minister & Chief Ministers, had come here to campaign," said Pinarayi Vijayan, reported news agency ANI.
"BJP had claimed they will big win in Kerala. Senior BJP leaders made claims of forming the government. We had stated that BJP's existing seat will also not exist in Kerala. Several top BJP leaders spent their time and money in Kerala. They must understand Kerala's peculiarity. Kerala does not accept communalism, divisiveness," said Pinarayi Vijayan.
"Kerala has given a verdict in favor of the LDF. But this is not the time to celebrate with great joy as COVID-19 continues to spread. This is the time to continue the fight against COVID-19," said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
"We accept the results are not as expected, especially in Assam and Kerala. It's a worrying aspect that we didn't win in Kerala and Assam. We will be a responsible opposition in both states. We congratulate the Left and Pinaryi Vijayan," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
"People of the country have asserted regional pride through the results of these elections to different state assemblies. These results are a fresh example of people rallying behind leaders of regional parties who have won their hearts," tweeted HD Kumaraswamy.
"This government is known for its corrupt practices. I don't understand why such a massive mandate was given to the existing chief minister in this election. This needs to be studied carefully," said Kerala Congress President Mullappally Ramachandran, reported news agency ANI.
"My congratulations to @CMOKerala @vijayanPinarayi for his remarkable re-election, a first in 44 years. It is our duty to respect the confidence the people have shown in him & his government. In the fight against #Covid & communalism, he should have our support," tweeted Shashi Tharoor on LDF's historic win.
"People of Kerala have always shown their cleverness and commitment towards secular and welfare political ideology. I congratulate comrade Pinarayi Vijayan on his and LDF's consecutive victory," tweeted former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy tagging Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
KK Shailaja has won from Mattannur constituency. She speaks to NDTV as Left is set to return to power in Kerala.
"We are admitting defeat. This was an unexpected verdict. We will introspect into our functioning. We had exposed the loot and corruption by LDF in Kerala. This does not mean that those issues can be washed away. I congratulate all the winners," Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala as LDF heads for historic win.
Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja wins from Kerala's Mattannur constituency by a record margin of 60,963 votes.
"Counting has not slowed down, due to heavy load the server has slowed down. Counting is continuing in the constituencies without any let-up," said Election Commission of India, reported news agency ANI.
Latest leads show LDF leading in 93 seats, UDF leading in 46 and BJP in none as at 3:08 pm.
Latest leads show LDF leading in 93 seats, UDF leading in 45 and BJP in 1 as at 2:53 pm.
The excitement on Twitter is palpable with counting of votes underway for the recently-concluded Assembly Elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Assam.
From Kamal Haasan to Khushbu Sundar, several film stars and celebrities contested the recently-concluded Assembly Elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Assam.
Congres candidate Shaafi Parambil now gaining lead against BJP candidate "Metroman" E Sreedharan in Kerala's Palakkad.
Latest leads show LDF leading in 91 seats, UDF leading in 45 and BJP in 3 as at 2:29 pm.
If they win, the Left bloc will buck the over four-decade-old trend of swinging between the Communists and the Congress-headed UDF in the state.
As per theElection Commission figures, the LDF is ahead in 85 seats, while the opposition Congress-headed UDF is leading in 44 segments and the BJP-NDA in three constituencies, reported news agency ANI.
See candidates who are leading as at 1:49 pm here.
Compare Kerala Election Results 2021 with 2016 here.
"This is a significant victory as in the past 40 years no government has beeb re-elected for a second successive term. This shows people of Kerala have appreciated the performance of the Pinarayi Vijayan government - the way it tackled floods, COVID and pro-people development," said CPIM's Prakash Karat, reported news agency ANI.
The Election Commission of India has written to the Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories to "prohibit victory celebrations urgently", reported news agency ANI.
"The Opposition must realise that in a democracy and during hardships they are not anti-government. If there are allegations and evidences, bring them forward. You can't be endlessly raising one allegation after the other without evidence," KK Shailaja tells NDTV on charges of corruption levelled by the Opposition.
"We had lots of developmental activities, reforms in education, health sector. The people are with us. During hardships how the government acts is most important. We had floods, hurricane, NIPAH, Covid. But what did the government do? It worked with people, provided for them. We supplied 20,000 crore food kits - our people reached each house, checked on people. Through our one and a half years we have been working towards defeating Covid. Our preparedness helped us immensely. We were arranging oxygen supply non-stop. We believe we can flatten the curve," KK Shailaja tells NDTV.
NDTV Projections: LDF heading towards 90 seats versus UDF's 45-50 seats
Latest leads show LDF leading in 86 seats, UDF in 50 and BJP in 3 as at 12:17 pm.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is leading on 56 seats, followed by Congress on 23 seats, officials trends show. The BJP is leading on three seats, reported news agency ANI.
Latest leads show LDF leading in 86 seats, UDF leading in 49 and BJP in 4 as at 11:34 am.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) is leading on 49 seats in Kerala Assembly elections as counting of votes underway in the state, reported news agency ANI.
Jose K Mani, the Kerala Congress (M) chief who recently joined the LDF camp after snapping decades-old ties with the UDF, is trailing by nearly 2,000 votes against his rival and sitting MLA, Mani C Kappan, the poll body said.
Poonjar sitting MLA and Kerala Janapaksham Secular leader, PC George is trailing by a massive margin of over 8,000 votes, it said.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy maintained their leads in Haripad and Puthupally constituencies respectively.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is leading by 3,351 votes in his home turf against his nearest rival C Raghunathan of the Congress, according to Election Commission (EC) figures.
Ministers, KK Shailaja, AC Moideen, E Chandrasekharan, Kadakampally Surendran and MM Mani are leading in their respective constituencies, while their cabinet colleagues TP Ramakrishnan and J Mercykutty Amma are trailing.
The ruling LDF continues to maintain its lead in 88 of the 140 assembly constituencies in Kerala while the opposition Congress-led UDF is ahead in 48 segments and BJP in three, as per trends available till 11:06 am.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leading on 38 seats in Kerala Assembly elections as counting of votes is underway in the state, reported news agency ANI.
The counting for 140 seats in the state begun at 8 am today with all necesary COVID-19 protocol in place. The Election Commission has made necessary arrangements for counting, which is taking place amid an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.
Latest leads show LDF ahead in 85 seats, UDF in 51 and BJP in 1 as at 10:20 am.
Latest leads show LDF ahead in 79 seats, UDF in 56 and BJP in 2 as at 10:15 am.
Former Chief Minister and Congress candidate Oommen Chandy is leading from Kerala's Puthuppally, reports news agency ANI.
The ruling LDF in Kerala is leading in 77 of the total 140 seats while opposition UDF is ahead in 58 as counting of votes for the April 6 assembly elections is currently underway.
Initial trends indicated that the BJP-led NDA is ahead in two seats-Palakkad, where "Metroman" E Sreedharan is contesting and Nemom, the lone seat won by the party in the 2016 assembly polls, reported news agency PTI.
Early leads showed that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Health Minister KK Shailaja, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala leading in their respective constituencies, while BJP state chief K Surendran was trailing in both the seats - Konni and Manjeswaram - he contested from.
As per the Election Commission website, the ruling CPI(M) was leading in five, CPI in two and the opposition Congress in five.
Left alliance zooms past majority mark in leads and is ahead in 72 Assembly seats. Congress alliance ahead in 52 and BJP in 1 as at 9:20 am.
LDF leading in 68 seats, UDF in 48 and BJP in 3 as at 9:14 am.
The LDF races ahead in Kerala. Latest leads show LDF leading in 61 seats, UDF leading in 47 and BJP in 4 as at 9:03 am.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was born around two decades after the Vaikkom Satyagraha into a Thiyya family - in northern Kerala. The Thiyyas are the traditional toddy tappers. He himself may have had little experience in the trade, but the tag, often a slur in Malayalam, stuck and came handy to rivals seeking a verbal stab at him.
The LDF continues to maintain an edge in Kerala. Latest leads show LDF leading in 44 seats while UDF leading in 37 as at 8:47 am.
The Left front ahead in 38 and the Congress alliance in in 34 at 8:42 am in a close to call battle.
Pinarayi Vijayan, who contests from Dharmadam, has steered Kerala through several challenges in the past five years, including the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
If exit polls hold true, the 76-year-old CPI-M leader could become the third Chief Minister in the state's history to be re-elected and the first to continue in office after completing a full term, reported news agency ANI.
The LDF is ahead in 27 seats while the UDF is leading in 26 with BJP gaining 3 as at 8:32 am.
Candidates and polling agents are allowed into the counting centres only if they have been administered both the doses of Covid vaccine or if they are carrying a Covid negative certificate due to the tidal wave of infections in the state amid the devastating second wave of coronavirus, reported news agency PTI.
Of the 633 halls in 114 counting centres in Kerala, 527 have been earmarked for tabulating Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) votes, while the remaining 106 will count the over four lakh postal votes, reported news agency PTI.
Of the 2.74 crore electorate in the state, 2.03 crore had exercised their franchise in the polls.
Counting of votes, polled in the April 6 Kerala Assembly elections, began this morning with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols, reported news agency PTI.
The postal votes were taken up for counting first when it began at 8 am.
The outcome will decide the fate of 975 candidates, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy, "Metroman" E Sreedharan and former Union Minister KJ Alphons.
The counting for the Malappuram Lok Sabha bypoll is also being held today.
Very early leads from Kerala show gain for Pinrayi Vijayan-led Left alliance LDF.
The counting of votes for the 140-member Kerala Assembly begins across the state.
Exit poll results from Kerala on Thursday appeared to give the edge to the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) coalition while the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) seemed to come in second. The BJP was seen winning a couple of seats as well.
The Election Commission has put a ban on victory celebrations amid a raging coronavirus pandemic. India, caught in the devastating second wave of Covid, reported over four lakh cases on Saturday, setting a grim global record.
The Kerala Assembly election 2021 results will be announced today after votes are counted. The Kerala Assembly elections were held in a single phase on April 6. Check Kerala Election Result 2021 online.
Assembly Polls 2021 Results: The counting of votes for Assembly Elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will be done on 2nd May. Here's how you can check the results on NDTV website and App.
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