Kerala Election Results 2021 LIVE: Exit polls predict Left return in Kerala, can Congress spring a surprise? Counting at 8 AM

Kerala assembly election 2021 results LIVE: Counting of votes for 140 assembly seats of Kerala is set to begin from 8 am. Kerala went to polls in single phase on April 6. Exit polls released on Thursday predict return of the Left government headed by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Here, the contest was expected to be between the Left-led LDF and and Congress-led UDF. Except for one poll, almost all have predicted win for the LDF. India Today-Axis My India has predicted 104-120 seats for Left, 20-36 for Congress, and 0-2 for the NDA. News24-Today’s Chanakya has predicted 93-111 for Left, 26-44 for the Congress, and 0-6 for the NDA. The BJP has been trying to expand its base, but the exit poll numbers project that maximum it can get is just 6 seats.

In the last election held in 2016, the Left has got 91 seats, Congress 47 and the BJP 1. This time, the Congress was hoping to return to power and Rahul Gandhi campaigned extensively in the state. If the exit poll number hold, it would be big setback for Gandhi who was hoping to win at least two states — Kerala and Assam — where the Congress was in direct contest. The numbers could also be disappointing for the saffron party which was hoping to better its tally in the backdrop of Sabarimala incident, and gold smuggling scam against the Left government of Vijayan. But exit polls suggest that neither Congress nor BJP has gained the ground in Kerala.

Counting of votes will commence at 8 am on May 2.