The counting of votes for the Kerala Assembly Election 2026 is currently underway across the state, with the fate of candidates contesting across all 140 constituencies being decided.
In what is shaping up to be a historic verdict, the Congress-led UDF has crossed the halfway mark of 71 seats and is leading in around 100 constituencies, putting it firmly on course to return to power after a decade in the opposition.
Pinarayi Vijayan To Lose The Seat?
- Meanwhile, Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was trailing in the initial stages of counting, has now taken a lead of over 1,500 votes in the Dharmadom constituency.
- Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala registered a decisive victory in the Haripad Assembly constituency, defeating his nearest rival, CPI candidate T T Jismon, by a margin of 23,377 votes
-CPM's T M Sasi wins Alathur by 8,553 votes, defeats Congress' K M Febin
-I C Balakrishnan of the INC has secured victory in Sulthanbathery (18) with 78,936 votes, winning by a margin of 16,597 votes after completion of all 18 rounds.
- Congress MLA Chandy Oommen retained his family stronghold of Puthuppally with a decisive margin of 52,907 votes.
Meanwhile, several senior LDF ministers are in trouble, with V N Vasavan trailing in Ettumanoor, R Bindu behind in Irinjalakuda, Veena George trailing in Aranmula, J Chinchu Rani behind in Chadayamangalam, Ramachandran Kadannappally trailing in Kannur, and M B Rajesh behind in Thrithala. Sitting LDF MLAs K K Shailaja, Daleema, and U Prathibha are also trailing in their respective constituencies.
On the UDF side, Opposition leader V D Satheesan is leading from Paravur, while his front has swept all seats in Wayanad and Idukki and is mounting a strong challenge in the Left's traditional stronghold of Pathanamthitta.
In Nemom, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has moved ahead of LDF's V Sivankutty after a tight initial contest.
What Exit Polls Predicted?
Kerala went to polls on April 9, 2026, with over 2.71 crore voters eligible to cast their votes across 140 constituencies in 14 districts, recording a turnout of 78.27 per cent. Exit polls had largely projected a UDF comeback, with the Manorama News-CVoter survey predicting 82 to 94 seats for the Congress-led alliance and Axis My India placing it at 78 to 90 seats.
Early trends have validated those projections, with the UDF crossing the majority mark and the ruling LDF trailing significantly.
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