The Congress-led UDF is headed towards a decisive victory in Kerala as the counting of votes for 140 constituencies was underway on Monday.
As counting progressed, the UDF has won 15 seats and is leading in well over 78 seats.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF has suffered a major setback, with the CM himself trailing during the first six rounds of counting. He is now leading by over 11,800 votes with just two rounds of counting to go.
However, several ministers of the LDF cabinet, including 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.
The UDF, meanwhile, has made a historic comeback after two consecutive years out of power, with over 100 seats, a straight jump from 41 in the previous Assembly elections.
UDF's winning candidates include Adv. Chandi Oomen, the son of former chief minister Oomen Chandy, who won from his father's bastion Puthuppally with a majority of 52,907 and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who won the Haripad seat by a margin of 23,377 votes.
Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, who was earlier trailing during the initial rounds of counting, is now leading by a clear margin of 14,823 votes.
The IUML, a major constituent of the UDF, has won three seats and is leading in 19 seats. A notable candidate is Adv. Fathima Thahiliya, who is leading by a margin of 5603 seats against LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan in the Perambra constituency. Thahiliya is poised to become the first woman MLA from the IUML.
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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