Kerala polls: 'Metro man' E Sreedharan leads in Palakkad

Metro man' E Sreedharan, Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from Kerala's Palakkad, is leading from the constituency as counting of votes is underway in the state. The BJP has fielded Sreedharan who is contesting against sitting MLA Shafi Parambil of Congress and CP Pramod of CPI-M.

Sreedharan, the architect of the metro rail system in the country, joining the BJP was a much-celebrated event among the party lovers in and out of the state. BJP had hoped to get the benefit from their undeclared Chief Ministerial face, Sreedharan's candidature.

This is a seat held by the UDF since 2011. BJP is pinning hopes on its increasing vote share in the constituency, which comprises Palakkad Municipality and is one of the two civic bodies in which the BJP is in power in the state. Kerala voted in a single phase on April 6.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) is leading on 49 seats in the state so far. The counting of votes for 140 seats in the state has begun on Sunday at 8 am in - Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and the Union territory of Puducherry adhering to COVID-19 protocols. The counting is done under the shadow of a raging coronavirus pandemic to elect their next governments.