Vote count begins in Kerala, Congress leads in 12 seats

Thiruvananthapuram, May 23 The vote count for the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala began on Thursday morning, with initial trends showing that the Congress was ahead in 12 and the Left in seven seats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kummanem Rajasekheran was ahead of Congress' Shashi Tharoor, the sitting member, in Thiruvananthapuram.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi was leading in Wayanad, official sources said.

The Left candidates were leading in seven places including Palakkad, Attingal, Kozhikode, Vadakara and Kannur.

In all there will be 14 rounds of counting.

Over 22,000 police officials are providing security across the state