India, May 3 -- With the counting of votes to take place on May 4, the Congress is hopeful of returning to power in Keralam along with the states of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry in an alliance led by the DMK, and has started preparing for the same. In West Bengal, where the party contested all the 294 Assembly seats for the first time, it is hopeful of better results this time with an increase in its vote share. In Assam, the grand old party is expecting to give a tough fight to BJP's Himanta Biswa Sarma with Gaurav Gogoi as its face.

Talking about Congress' performance in Keralam, party insiders pointed out that the difference in the vote share is going to be thin, but the seat difference is likely to give a majority...