Kerala Assembly Election results 2021 LIVE: Will LDF retain power?

Will the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government get a second consecutive term, or will the Congress-led UDF come to power? As the counting of votes for the 2021 Kerala Assembly election starts at 8 am on Sunday, both scenarios hold relevant this year. For the last four decades, Kerala has followed a particular political pattern of voting the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF) to power every alternative term since the 1977 election. However, many pre-poll and exit polls projected that this anti-incumbency trend is likely to change this election, with projections favouring the Left. 

The prominent figures who fought the 2021 election are Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his cabinet colleagues KK Shailaja, J Mercikutty Amma, MM Mani, Kadakampally Surendran and KT Jaleel in the LDF; Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and PK Kunhalikutty in the UDF; and K Surendran and 'Metroman' E Sreedharan from the BJP. This year, independent party Twenty20 Kizhakkambalam, a corporate group, also joined the election fray. Several actors and young candidates, too, joined the political race this year. A total of 2,03,27,893 electors exercised their franchise in one of the shortest fought elections, which was held on April 6 in a single phase. The state recorded a voter turnout of 74.06%. Track all the LIVE updates on the Kerala Assembly Election 2021 results here:

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In the 2016 election, the LDF won a comfortable margin — 91 seats in the 140-member Assembly. The opposition UDF won 47 seats. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) got its maiden Assembly seat in Kerala in 2016. O Rajagopal became the first BJP MLA by winning from the Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram. The election results are being announced at a time when Kerala and the rest of the country are undergoing a peak in COVID-19 cases and a rise in deaths due to the disease. Amid this, the Kerala government has barred any gatherings or public celebrations when the results are announced. During the counting process, only authorities engaged in counting, the counting agents from each political party and media person will be allowed. Read the list of restrictions on the counting day on May 2 (Sunday) here.