Kerala Assembly elections 2021: Key candidates to watch out for

Thiruvananthapuram: The state of Kerala went to the polls to elect its 15th legislative assembly. Counting of votes will begin at 8 a.m on Sunday for the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

There are 140 seats in the Kerala Legislative Assembly. LDF-led by the CPI(M) holds the majority with 91 seats. Out of the 91 LDF seats, 58 belong to the CPI(M), 19 to the CPI, JD(S) holds 3, IND owns 4, KC(M) has 2 to its name while NCP, KC(B), C(S), and INL hold one each. 

Polling for the Kerala State Assembly concluded on April 6 and witnessed a high-pitched battle as electoral contenders Oommen Chandy, Pinarayi Vijayan, Ramesh Chennithala and C Raghunath jumped into the fray. The 2021 Kerala Assembly Elections also found E Sreedharan make his electoral debut on a BJP ticket. The 88-year-old who recently joined the BJP before the polls is projected as the party's Chief Minister face. 

Breaking down the 41 seats held by the Congress-led UDF, the INC has 21 seats, the IUML has 18, KC(J) has one belongs to NCK. 

The BJP holds only one seat in the 140-seater Kerala Assembly and there are 7 vacant seats. 

The exit polls on Kerala state assembly elections:

Kerala Exit Poll results (Total seats -140):

LDF is expected to retain power in Kerala, as per most pollsters.

Zee News Maha Exit Poll:

LDF – 91, UDF – 47, Others – 2

Republic-CNX:

LDF – 72-80, UDF – 58-64, BJP – 1-5, Others – 0

India Today – Axis My India:

LDF - 104-120, UDF - 20-36, BJP - 0-2

ABP News - C Voter:

LDF - 71-77, UDF - 62-68, BJP - 0-2, Others - 0

News 24 - Chanakya:

LDF - 93-111, UDF - 26-44, BJP- 0-6, Others - 0-3

The ruling LDF alliance is expected to retain power as the pollsters predict a tough one for UDF.

Here are the five key candidates to watch out for:

1. Pinarayi Vijayan:

CM Pinarayi Vijayan achieved a massive victory in local body polls. Vijayan assumed his office in 2016 and since then he is going strong. If exit polls are considered, he is all set to come in power once again. 

2. Kummanam Rajasekharan:

Rajasekharan is a BJP candidate from the state. He has worked as the former governor of Mizoram. He was Party President from 2015-2018. Rajasekharan will be contesting elections from Nemom, Thiruvananthpuram. BJP in the previous elections had managed to win a seat from this constituency and it will be interesting to observe what results come in this time. 

3. Oommen Chandy:

Chandy is a key candidate from the Puthupally constituency for the Congress party.  In the 2016 State Assembly elections, Chandy won from this seat beating Jaick C Thomas of CPM by a margin of 27,092 votes.

The 77-year-old veteran Congress leader is among the top contenders to be the chief minister if the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) gets a majority in the Kerala polls.