Power shift in Kerala: UDF races past majority mark as LDF falls behind

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is ahead in just 2 seats.

The UDF, led by the Congress, has emerged as the single largest party in the state where the majority mark in the 140-member assembly is 71.

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According to local media reports, state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is trailing in Dharmadom even after the fourth round of counting.

Praising UDF's performance in the state, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor wrote on X: "A wonderful UDF victory emerging from trends in Kerala all morning. With half the votes counted, we are looking at leads in over 100 seats, which few would have dared predict a month ago. The public have clearly voted for change, an end to ten years of LDF misgovernance and a bold new direction for Kerala. @INCKerala rocking it! Our allies doing extremely well across the board too."

A wonderful UDF victory emerging from trends in Kerala all morning. With half the votes counted, we are looking at leads in over 100 seats, which few would have dared predict a month ago. The public have clearly voted for change, an end to ten years of LDF misgovernance and a… pic.twitter.com/mKpwlXJkiL
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 4, 2026

With the defeat, the Left will not have a single government running across the country for the first time in several decades.

Kerala has a total of 140 Assembly seats. In the 2021 elections, the electorate broke the long-standing pattern of alternating power between the LDF and UDF every five years by re-electing the Left government.

The state went to the polls on April 9.