Congress-led UDF leads in Kerala; BJP poised for win in Thrissur with Suresh Gopi’s win

NEW DELHI: The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is leading in 18 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) is leading in one seat each in Thrissur and Alathur respectively, the Election Commission said on Tuesday as counting of votes progressed in the parliamentary elections.

As per information posted on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party’s general secretary K C Venugopal are leading on their seats Waynad and Alappuzha, respectively.

BJP’s Suresh Gopi was leading with 4,00,706 votes in Thrissur constituency with a margin of 73,091 votes over V S SunilKumar of the CPI and Congress’ Muraleedharan of the Congress who polled 3,19,560 votes as per data on the poll body’s website at 2 pm.

#WATCH | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: Suresh Gopi, BJP candidate who is leading from Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency says, ” I am in totally an ecstatic mood. What was very impossible became gloriously possible…it was not a 62-day campaign process, it was an emotional carriage… pic.twitter.com/IbmO8xNmYA

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2024

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was leading by 3,28,460 votes in Wayanad constituency over his nearest rival CPI’s Annie Raja, as per Election Commission data. Congress sitting MP Shashi Tharoor took a lead over BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram with 3,25,896 votes and CPI’s Pannian Raveendran in third spot, data by EC said.

Congress’ K C Venugopal was leading with 3,64,811 votes against nearest rival AM Ariff of the CPI(M) while BJP’s Sobha Surendran trailed in the third place.

The polling in Kerala was held in single phase on April 26. The voter turnout was recorded at 71.27 per cent. Out of the total 2,77,49,158 voters in Kerala, a total of 1,97,77,478 exercised their franchise. In the 2019 General Elections, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP failed to open its account in the southern state.

In its attempt to garner votes in Kerala, the BJP focussed on the Christian community in the state which accounts for 18.38 per cent of the total population.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP crossed the majority mark in early leads and the INDIA bloc above 200, defying all exit poll predictions.

The BJP is currently leading on 240 seats, as per the latest trends by the ECI. The Lok Sabha elections were held across the country in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. (ANI)