Thiruvananthapuram, May 1 (UNI) The counting of votes for all the 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala will be held on Sunday.
The counting will begin at 0800 hrs. The postal ballots will be counted first, followed by EVM votes from 0830 hrs.
The single phase election to the 15th legislative assembly was held on April 6. The key contest is between the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). The BJP-led NDA alliance is also hoping to make an impact in the State this time.
The state has 140 seats, and a party or alliance must win 71 seats to form the government.
Currently the ruling LDF won 91 seats in the 2016 assembly polls. The UDF won only 47 seats. The BJP-led NDA secured 14.96 per cent votes in that election by winning one seat for the first time with the victory of O Rajagopal from Namom seat. The remaining seat was won by an independent PC George, who later formed the party Kerala Janapaksham (Secular).
But, the vote share of BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha election decreased to 13 per cent
Key candidates who contested the elections were Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (Dharmadam), BJP state president K Surendran (Manjeshwaram), Metroman E Sreedharan (Palakkad), Minister of Health KK Shailaja (Mattanur), former CM Oommen Chandy (Puthuppally), Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan (Kanhangad), former DGP Jacob Thomas (Irinjalakuda), Kerala Election 2021 dates
Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) has come out with a set of strict regulations adhering to Covid-19 protocol for the counting procedure.
Counting officers will be given masks and face shields. The officers and counting agents will also be handed sanitisers before entering the station.
Sources said 74.02 per cent of more than 2.74 crore electorate exercised their franchise in the single phase Assembly election for 140 seats in Kerala on April 6, compared to 77.53 % in the 2016 Assembly elections.
UNI DS PS1830