Polling in the single-phase election to the Kerala Assembly started at 7 am on Tuesday. A total of 1,061 candidates are in the fray for the 140-member Assembly of the state. Till 7:11 pm, 70.04% voter turnout was recorded in the state.

Kerala will for the first time see a three-pronged fight with a high-octane
Battlecry from the BJP. ‘Gods own country’ has traditionally
voted the opposition into power every 5 years, but many predict that Communist
Party of India (Marxist)- led UDF may create history and return back to power
in what remains the last state where it holds power. The Congress-led UDF would
want to wrest control to remain relevant in Indian politics.

Also Read: Kerala Assembly Election 2021: Everything you need to know

Key Seats/Districts To
Watch Out For – 

Thiruvananthapuram:
The seat will be keenly looked at by-poll pundits as it has the maximum chances
for the Bharatiya Janata Party in an otherwise bipolar contest in the southern
state.

Nemom: Known as the
‘Gujarat of Kerala’, this was the constituency where saffron party’s O Rajagopal pulled off a surprise by winning a maiden assembly seat for his side by defeating his LDF rival in 2016. Senior leader and
former Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan is the flag bearer of BJP against
a formidable LDF candidate V Sivakutty.

Ranni: The seat will
be witness to a fierce battle this time around as the constituency happens to house
the famous Sabarimala Temple which was caught in the middle of a controversy
with a case pending in the Supreme Court. The seat lies in Pathanamthitta
district which witnessed protests over the Sabarimala temple issue. While it
has been a bastion of the left since the 1980s, a saffron surge in the country
is likely to cause disruptions in the scheme of things.

Palakkad: With BJP
fielding ‘metroman’ E Sreedhan and projecting him as the CM face, there’s a huddle in both the centre & the left party camps. He will take on incumbent
Congress leader Shafi Parambil and left’s CP Pramod.