At least nine constituencies in Kerala are witnessing major three-way contests that could even decide the final outcome of the upcoming assembly elections scheduled for April 9.
Of these constituencies, Nemom, Kazhakkoottam, Vattiyoorkkavu and Aranmula are in the southern part of the state; Pala, Thrissur and Nattika are in central Kerala; and Palakkad and Manjeshwaram are in North Kerala. While six of them have MLAs from the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the rest are represented by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram district is the only constituency in Kerala so far to elect a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) member to the Assembly. Senior BJP leader O. Rajagopal defeated K. Sivankutty of the LDF in 2016. Mr. Sivankutty won a back seat in the 2021 polls, defeating Kummanam Rajasekharan of the BJP by a margin of 3,949 votes. K. Muraleedharan of the UDF was relegated to the third position. The difference in vote share between LDF and NDA candidates was only around three percentage points. Mr. Sivankutty is now pitted against BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and UDF’s KS Sabarinadhan, who is a councilor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and a former MLA.
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In Vattiyurkav too, NDA candidates finished second in the 2016 (Mr. Rajasekharan) and 2021 (VV Rajesh) elections. However, the Congress could get second place in the 2019 poll when VK Prasanth, the sitting MLA, was elected to the assembly for the first time. Mr. Prashanth is now seeking a third term. His NDA rival is R. Sreelekha, former DGP and councilor in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The UDF candidate is Mr. K. Muraleedharan who won the 2011 and 2016 parliamentary polls from here.
Kazhakkottam is another segment where the NDA is on a strong wicket. The BJP had finished second in the previous two elections here. In 2021, Kadakampally Surendran of LDF defeated Shobhu Surendran of NDA by a margin of 23,497 votes. In 2016, Mr Surendran won against BJP’s V Muraleedharan by a margin of 7,347 votes. The difference in vote share was 5.48 percentage points. Right now Mr. Surendran is once again contesting against Mr. V. Muraleedharan. The UDF candidate is T. Sharatchandra Prasad, former MLA. The NDA’s hopes rest on its recent victory in the local polls in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
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The BJP is waging an uphill battle in the temple town of Aranmula in Pathanamthitta, where Health Minister Veena George of the LDF is seeking a third term. She defeated K. Sivadasan Nair of Congress in 2016 (by 7,646 votes) and 2021 (by 19,003 votes). The NDA has fielded Mr. Rajasekharan from here in an attempt to capitalize on his popularity during the agitation against the proposed Aranmula airport. The Congress nominee is Abin Varkey, who could influence some of the community votes that reportedly went in favor of Ms. George in the earlier elections.
Thrissur witnessed a close contest in the 2021 polls, after which the LDF candidate P. Balachandran of the Communist Party of India (CPI) had just come through with a margin of 946 votes. The nearest rivals were Padmaja Venugopal of the UDF and Suresh Gopi of the NDA. Ms. Venugopal is now the NDA candidate and Mr. Gopi won the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from there. While the UDF has now fielded former mayor Rajan Pallan, the LDF candidate is poet Alankode Leelakrishnan.
Meanwhile, the Palakkad seat is already coming into limelight with Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan claiming there was a “deal” between the Left and the BJP. According to Mr. Satheesan, the LDF has fielded an independent candidate here, hotelier NMR Razak, to split anti-BJP votes that could go in favor of the UDF candidate, actor Ramesh Pisharody. Here NDA candidate Ms Shobha Surendran who finished second in 2016 election. In the 2021 polls, Shafi Parambil, currently MP for Vadakara in the Lok Sabha, narrowly defeated “metro man” E. Sreedharan of the NDA by a margin of 3,859 votes. The UDF has decided not to field Rahul Mamkootathil, the sitting MLA who won the 2024 by-election by a landslide after allegations of sexual abuse were leveled against him.
Manjeshwaram also has a history of NDA narrowly missing out on a chance to win from here. In 2016, K. Surendran, who later became state president of the BJP, lost to PB Abdul Razak, the candidate of the UDF, the Indian Union Muslim League, by a margin of just 89 votes. Independent K. Sundara got 467 votes. Mr Surendran lost again in 2021, this time to AKM Ashraf of the UDF, by a margin of 855 votes. NDA and UDF have repeated their candidates here while LDF has nominated KR Jayananda.
Though Pala in Kottayam and Nattika in Thrissur have yet to conduct a triangular electoral battle, this election could be a different story. In Pala, Kerala Congress (Mani) president Jose K. Mani of the LDF is once again taking on incumbent MLA Mani C. Kappan of the UDF. The NDA has fielded Shone George, son of former Poonjar MLA PC George. In Nattica, sitting MLA CC Mukundan, who was earlier in the CPI, is contesting as an NDA candidate against former MLA Geetha Gopi. Sunil Laloor is the UDF candidate.
Published – 26 March 2026 22:55 IST
