Counting of votes for Kerala's 140 Assembly seats is underway, with early trends indicating a clear lead for Congress-led UDF.
The Congress-led UDF was leading in more than 90 seats at 2 pm, while several prominent candidates, including Pinarayi Vijayan, VD Satheeshan and KK Shailaja, saw mixed trends
Counting trends by 3 pm showed that UDF comfortably crossed the majority mark in Kerala, as Congress won 20 seats, including Thrissur and Ernakulam, and was leading on 44 more.
The chief electoral officer said 53,984 postal ballots had been issued to service voters, of which 20,028 had been received as of May 1
Exit polls show a setback for the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF, strongly favouring the UDF, while the BJP remains on the margins
The direction was issued following reports of a strong room storing EVMs in Perambra constituency in Kozhikode being opened and reported plans to open another one in Nenmara constituency in Palakkad
Rising debt and shrinking fiscal space have not weakened welfare politics in Kerala. Despite warnings from CAG and RBI, parties continue to rely on welfarism during elections
With voting complete across Kerala's 140 constituencies, the fate of over 883 candidates has been sealed. All eyes now turn to May 4. Here are five key seats and candidates to watch