As only few hours are left for the counting of votes for 140 constituencies in the Kerala Assembly polls to begin, candidates in the electoral contest are keeping high hopes and exuding confidence that the people s mandate will be in their favour. Riding high after various pre-poll and post-poll surveys that predicted Communist Party of India (M)-led Left Democratic Front victory, acting state secretary and LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan has exerted confidence that the Left will get continuation in power with a thumping victory. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had said earlier that the LDF would retain power in the state, speaking to media on Saturday however chose not to go for any prediction.
Effective implementation of welfare schemes has helped chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan lead the left democratic front (LDF), rewrite history, and return to power in Kerala. This is the first time in history that an incumbent chief minister came back to power after completing a full term. Kerala alternates between UDF and LDF even when governments perform reasonably well. Except in 1977, no ruling front has been re-elected.
The LDF, a coalition, is likely to win 99 out of the 140 seats in the Kerala assembly. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is leading in the remaining 41 seats.
In the 2016 elections, the LDF had won 91 seats, and UDF had won 47 seats.
Read more about Left consolidates lead in Kerala as counting moves into top gear on Business Standard. By reaching the halfway mark in many of the 140 constituencies, the indications are that the Left is set to rewrite the state s electoral history by becoming the first government to retain power
The ruling LDF in Kerala was leading in 75 of the total 140 seats while opposition UDF was ahead in 56 segments as counting of votes for the April 6 assembly elections got underway on Sunday. 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 saffron party in the 2016 assembly polls. Early leads showed that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Health Minister K K Shailaja, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and oppositionleader Ramesh Chennithala were leading in their respective constituencies, while BJP state chief K Surendran was trailing in both the seats-Konni and Manjeswaram- he contested.