Kerala election results 2021 LIVE: LDF leads in 87 seats, UDF in 50, BJP in 3
Most of the post-poll surveys had suggested that LDF led by Pinarayi Vijayan will win Kerala legislative assembly elections
Immediate lockdown necessary to curb Covid spread in India, says Anthony Fauci
Most of the recent post-poll surveys had suggested that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by reigning chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will win the elections. However, opposition minister Ramesh Chennithala had claimed that post-poll surveys cannot be trusted and assured that the United Democratic Front (UDF) will win the elections easily. In the meantime, the Bharatiya Janata Party also believes that they will win at least three or four seats in this legislative assembly elections.
Strict Covid protocols will be followed during the counting
06:44 (IST) May 02
Counting at 8am
The counting of votes will begin at 8am in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry. Postal ballots will be counted first
06:10 (IST) May 02
Third term for Mamata or will BJP wrest power from TMC?
While Mamata Banerjee s Trinamool Congress (TMC) is seeking to seize power for the third consecutive term, the BJP is making claims of winning 200 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly. The power-packed campaigns by the main contenders - the Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), involved rallies with large participations and mega roadshows.
Tamil Nadu election results: In Tamil Nadu, the DMK has crossed the half-way mark in early leads, ahead of the ruling AIADMK, which has an alliance with the BJP.
AIMIM, ISF in the high-stake contest against the BJP fail to make an impression, observers believe that the community voted for TMC to keep the saffron party out
However, the Trinamool boss, who paid a big price for underestimating Modi s pull in the LS polls, was alive to the challenge this time. She blunted the Hindutva charge by flaunting her credentials as a Shandilya Brahmin who could recite the ‘Chandi Path’ and, perhaps more crucially, whipped up nativist sentiments by cautioning the electorate against outsiders and unleashing “Joy Bangla as a counterweight to Jai Shri Ram.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee visits Kalighat Temple (PTI photo)
The feisty leader, who burst into the limelight by taking on CPM cadres during the over three-decade-long ‘red’ hegemony, also turned the foot injury she suffered into attack ammo to punish BJP, which was hamstrung by the lack of an organisation and a face which could even remotely rival Banerjee a weakness that helped the CM cast herself as Bengal s own daughter. The dramatic collapse of CPM and Congress facilitated her task, with anti-BJP sections coalescing around her.