Counting is underway for the 140 seats Kerala Assembly Election 2021 which went to polls in April. Counting of votes began at 8 am on Sunday in Kerala and in the initial rounds 'Metro man' E Sreedharan, BJP candidate from Palakkad, was leading from the constituency with over 2,000 votes.
However, in a sudden turn of events, BJP's E Sreedharan, who was leading in Palakkad, has been pushed to second place by UDF candidate Shafi Parambil. UDF is leading by 178 votes. With this, NDA has been reduced to lead in 0 seats.
The latest trend shows E Sreedharan is likely to lose from Palakkad. UDF is leading by over 1200 votes, with counting in one LDF dominated panchayat left. Even if Sreedharan gets all postal ballots, he may not be able to make the cut.
Meanwhile, the state BJP President K Surendran has virtually lost both seats he contested. Surendran is trailing by 1,143 votes in Manjeswaram (after all rounds counted) and has been pushed to distant third place in Konni.
Surendran led the BJP campaign from the front and hand-picked the candidates, even earning the ire of colleagues. His aggressive style of electioneering and reliance on the Sabarimala issue seems to have backfired.
The LDF, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, looks all set for a comeback in Kerala as counting to the 140-seat Assembly is underway.