Voting has concluded, fates of candidates sealed, predictions on who wins and who loses have been made in the exit polls. Now, all eyes are set on May 4 when votes will be counted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and results declared across four states – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam — where the elections were held in the last one month. Track updates on Assembly elections 2026
However, the Congress in Kerala faces the big question. Who will be the chief minister if the UDF wins the elections, as predicted in the exit polls?
Venugupal for Kerala CM post?
Senior Congress leader Tariq Anwar spoke regarding this on Friday. Anwar said if party general secretary KC Venugopal is interested, he can be the next chief minister of Kerala although it all depends what the results unveil in Kerala.
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Confident about UDF’s win in Kerala, Anwar was quoted by news agency PTI as saying, “There is no confusion about it.”
Anwar is the former in-charge of Kerala and the MP from Katihar constituency in Bihar.
High command to decide
While Anwar did mention Venugopal’s name as a potential chief ministerial candidate, he said that it will be upon the Congress party high command to decide who the “the appropriate person to run the show” would be.
He said the party high command will appoint an observer who will call a meeting of the legislative party and if the CM candidate is clear in the discussions, the same will be communicated to the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
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“The high command will take a final view,” he as quoted as saying.
Asked whether Venugopal can become CM despite not having contested in the Assembly polls, Anwar said that if the Congress general secretary (organisation) was interested, he will have to undergo the requisite process.
“If the legislative party authorises the high command for the final decision, then it will do so,” he said.
Exit poll projections
The recent exit polls predict that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) will win in the Assembly polls and the CPI(M)-headed Left Democratic Front (LDF) would come second.
Kerala has a total 140 seats, making 71 the majority mark that a party or an alliance needs to achieve to be able to form government.
Most exit polls projected UDF’s tally between 70-90 and LDF’s expected seat tally at 49-65.
However, Kerala finance minister KN Balagopal rejected the predictions and said that exit polls have come in the past and have been proved wrong as he claimed that exit polls show that the ruling LDF and its rival UDF are positioned neck-and-neck and expressed confidence that the Left front will return to power.
Assembly elections in Kerala were held on April 9 and the results will be declared on May 4.