The Congress-led UDF is headed towards a decisive victory in Kerala as voting for 140 constituencies is underway on Monday.
Four hours into counting, UDF was leading with over 85 seats. While the ruling LDF was below 50 seats, the NDA led in three seats.
At least 12 ministers in the CPI(M)-led LDF cabinet were trailing, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his sitting seat, Dharmadam, considered his bastion and where his village Pinarayi falls.
According to the Election Commission's data, Vijayan was trailing by over 2,000 votes against Cong candidate Abdul Rasheed in the third round of counting.
According to various reports, ministers Veena George, M B Rajesh, O R Kelu, R Bindhu, J Chinchurani, P Rajeev, K B Ganesh Kumar, V N Vasavan, V Sivankutty, V Abdurahiman, A K Saseendran and Roshy Augustine were trailing in their respective constituencies.
Similarly, UDF face and Congress leader V D Satheesan was trailing in North Paravoor constituency, where CPI(M) candidate E T Tyson has taken an early lead, according to TV reports.
Following the initial rounds of EVM counting, Tyson was leading by over 240 votes.
However, Satheesan is expected to gain ground when votes from local bodies with a stronger Congress presence are counted.
The counting of votes began at 8 am across 140 constituencies in the state under tight security, following a turnout of nearly 80% among over 2.7 crore voters.
The strongrooms, where the electronic voting machines were stored, were opened at around 6.30am in the presence of Election Commission observers, security personnel, and representatives of candidates.
Tight security arrangements were made across the state for the counting of votes. As many as 32,300 police personnel, including 20 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, have been deployed for security at counting centres across the state, officials said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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