Congress leads in Kerala, but INDIA bloc falters in other states

Congress-led UDF is set for a landslide victory in Kerala, ending the LDF's 10-year rule. However, the party and its allies face major setbacks in Tamil Nadu, Assam, and West Bengal, where the BJP is making significant inroads.

Even as the Congress party celebrated their significant lead in Keralam as vote counting trends continue to roll in on Monday, the alliance's poor performance in Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Puducherry has cast a shadow over its pan-India prospects. INDIA bloc parties, consisting of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), have failed to materialise their support into votes in their respective states. However, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has started celebrations across Congress party offices.

A Mixed Bag for Alliances

While Tamil Nadu is witnessing the young party of TVK, formed formally in 2024, is managing to push back against the incumbent DMK, leading in 106 seats. Meanwhile, the DMK-led alliance, called the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), has leads in around 56 seats between them. The AIADMK-led NDA alliance is hanging onto second place, having leads in around 72 seats. While General and assembly election results differ often, there are 42 parliamentary seats in West Bengal, and 39 in Tamil Nadu, suggesting that the BJP might be making inroads within states which traditionally have not seen electoral success for the party.

In West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC), not being part of the INDIA bloc in the Centre, had contested elections alone. While the party is hanging onto second place by having leads in 90 seats, the BJP has managed to continue being the juggernaut across 170 seats. If trends persist, the party will comfortably cross the majority mark. While the Congress has managed to push back against the incumbent Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala, the party has failed to show significant gains in the other states and one union territory.

UDF's Landslide Victory in Kerala

Congress leaders KC Venugopal, Ramesh Chennithala, state party chief Sunny Joseph, and party MP Shashi Tharoor celebrated at the party office in Thiruvananthapuram as the projections by the Election Commission indicated a landslide win for the UDF. Addressing a press conference as the party surged past the 95-seat mark in early counting trends from the 140-member Kerala Legislative Assembly mark in the State, Joseph said, "Thankful to the Kerala people for giving us a thumping victory in the Legislative Assembly election. This is a repetition of what has happened in the local body. This is a clear verdict against the LDF for their anti-people activities and policies."

If trends persist, it will facilitate the return of the UDF government in Keralam after 10 years, bringing an end to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) regime, which was seen leading in around 40 constituencies after nine rounds of counting. Earlier in the day Shashi Tharoor said the party represents a shift in political direction and stressed the need for a "new kind of politics" following what he described as 10 years of poor governance. "Look, we are a party of change. We want that after 10 years of such bad politics, it is very important to bring change and, in my view, to bring in a new kind of politics," Tharoor told ANI.

LDF Faces Defeat, CM Pinarayi Vijayan Trails

According to Election Commission data, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has leads in more than 80 seats, comfortably crossing the majority mark. While the Congress has leads in 56 seats, while the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has secured 23 leads. Other parties, including the KEC, have leads in 7 seats. Other parties like KEC (M), KEC(J) and others have secured one seat each.

Meanwhile, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), is in second place with leads in 41 seats, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Congress has managed to push against an expected 'Vijayan wave', as incumbent Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is trailing in Dharmadam by 1090 votes, securing 26779 votes till the 5th round of counting of votes by the Election Commission. Congress' VP Abdul Rasheed, was behind him with 27,869 votes as per EC trends.

TVK Emerges 'Giant Killer' in Tamil Nadu

However, the same could not be said for other states. In Tamil Nadu, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has emerged as a 'giant killer' of Chief Minister MK Stalin, showing a strong performance in their poll debut by leading in 108 seats as the EC counting trends trickled in. Congress, being part of the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) led by the DMK, has managed to lead in 5 seats. Meanwhile, the alliance as a whole is trailing in third place, having leads in around 50 seats, a far cry from their 159 seats they had secured in 2021.

Congress Performance in Assam

In Assam, Congress has managed to maintain leads in the 29 seats they had won in 2021. Congress, leading the Mahajot alliance in the state, is individually leading in 24 seats. The alliance itself is leading in 37 seats by around midday today Congress' Assam President Gaurav Gogoi, who had decided to make his debut in the Assembly elections is trailing by more than 9,000 votes in Jorhat the 6th round of voting. Gogoi currently represents the Jorhat Parliamentary constituency.

BJP Poised to Oust TMC in West Bengal

In West Bengal, while the Congress party has not ruled the state since the 1960's, they have continued to be marginal players in the state, not managing to lead in even one seat as of writing the report. Former West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was hoping to bolster support in Baharampur, which seem to have weaker prospects as he is trailing by more than 1,000 votes in the early rounds of counting. Instead, BJP's Subrata Maitra (Kanchan), is leading, having secured only 6,819 votes till now.

The BJP has managed to derail TMC 's chances at a fourth term, with the party expected to end over a decade of TMC rule in the state. The party is leading in 156 seats across the state for now.

Puducherry Update

In Puducherry too, the party has managed to get a lead in only 1 seat, with party leader P Karthikeyan leading with a margin of 2489 votes in Oussudu constituency, securing 8756 votes till now. BJP's E Theepainthan trails behind the Congress candidate, getting 6267 votes till the second out of 45 rounds of voting.

Counting began at 8 am today across 823 constituencies in key regions including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Keralam, Assam, and the Union Territory of Puducherry where Assembly elections were held recently. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)