Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led UDF is ahead in all 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, as per the initial trends released by the Election Commission.                        

Shashi Tharoor is trailing against BJP’s Kummanam Rajasekharan from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. 

Presently, Rahul Gandhi is leading in Wayanad. 

The constituency was not of key importance in the state, until 2019. 

In Kerala's Pathanamthitta, BJP’s K Surendran is leading. Pathanamthitta in Kerala is home to the contentious temple Sabarimala.

Also read: Election results 2019: Preliminary numbers point to UDF lead in all constituencies of Kerala

The 20 Parliamentary constituencies are Kasaragod, Kannur, Vatakara, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ponnani, Palakkad, Alathur, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Mavelikkara, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Attingal and Thiruvananthapuram. The three main constituencies in Kerala are Wayanad, Pathanamthitta and  Thiruvananthapuram. 

Kerala chief electoral officer Teeka Ram Meena said that the official results of the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala would be declared only after 8 pm on May 23.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Meena said that there would be 29 counting locations, including postal ballots and EVMs. He said that the counting will first begin at 8.30 am at locations with postal ballot counters, after which counting would move on to other locations with EVMs.

In Wayanad, the MP seat was left vacant after the demise of Congress's MI Shanavas. The candidates from Wayanad are PP Suneer from CPI(M), Rahul Gandhi from Congress and Thushar Vellapally from NDA. In Pathanamthitta, Veena George from CPI(M),  Anto Antony from Congress and K Surendran from BJP are the candidates. In Thiruvananthapuram, sitting MP Shashi Tharoor, BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan and former Kerala minister C Divakaran of the Communist Party of India are the candidates. 

The exit polls predicted that NDA will open its account in Kerala by winning the Thiruvananthapuram seat. The exit polls also predicted that UDF will get more than half the seats.