Big setback for Congress as it is set to lose Assam, Kerala, Puducherry

New Delhi, May 2: In the early trends, the Congress is losing high stakes battles in the five states, but the real surprise is Kerala where the party is set to lose the state and the LDF is winning for the second time in a row to create history.

The Kerala setback is significant as party leader Rahul Gandhi is MP from Wayanad and his close lieutenant K.C. Venugopal also hails from the same state.

In Puducherry, also the NDA is ahead of the Congress, according to the early trends.

The only solace for the Congress is Tamil Nadu where the alliance is set to sail through, but the Congress is a junior partner here.

In the 140-member Kerala Assembly, according to the latest reports, the Left Front is leading in 80 constituencies while the Congress-led UDF is ahead in 58 and the BJP in two seats.

All the exit polls had predicted a clean victory for the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Front with a minimum of 75 seats and a maximum of 120 seats.

The pattern is, what has been seen so far, there are quite a number of seats where the balance is shifting between the Left and the Congress-led UDF candidates.

The ruling BJP-led NDA is heading to retain power in Assam for the second time in a row as the alliance is leading in 68 seats in the 126-member assembly for which three-phase polling ended on April 6. - IANS