Kerala Assembly Election 2026: Political Landscape Heats Up as Opposition Congress Announces First List of 55 Candidates

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With just days left for the Kerala Assembly Election 2026, the political landscape has geared up. The Election Commission of India released the schedule for the upcoming Kerala Assembly election, which will take place on April 9, 2026.

The ruling alliance, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), spearheaded by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), announced its list of candidates right after the ECI press conference, giving it a lead. The Congress party, the main opposition to the ruling alliance, announced its first list of 55 candidates on March 17, 2026.

K.C. Venugopal, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, stated that the list of candidates for the upcoming election was finalised after hours of discussion regarding the demands of a few incumbent MPs.

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In the first list released by the AICC, 19 out of the 22 sitting MLAs, including Indian National Congress (INC) leader Sunny Joseph, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala, among others, are contesting. As parties gear up for the Kerala Assembly elections, all the major allies of the LDF, including CPI(M), CPI, and Kerala Congress (Mani), have already declared their lists of candidates.

On March 15, 2026, the CPI(M) state secretary announced the party’s list of 81 candidates, including 75 party members and 6 independent candidates. The current Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, will contest from the Dharmadam constituency in Kannur district, Kerala. Vijayan is also the first Chief Minister of Kerala to be re-elected after completing a five-year term.

Binoy Viswam, CPI state secretary, released the list of 25 candidates on March 15, 2026, the same day as CPI(M). However, CPI was the first party to release its candidate list, just hours after the ECI press conference.

Major opposition leaders such as V.D. Satheesan will be contesting from the Paravur constituency, while former Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala will contest from the Haripad constituency. However, candidates for the Kannur and Alappuzha seats have not been announced yet.

Actor and comedian Ramesh Pisharody has been roped in to contest from the Palakkad seat, which the party has held since 2011. The incumbent MLA of Palakkad, Rahul Mamkootathil, got embroiled in controversy after sexual assault allegations emerged against him. CPI(M) is yet to announce its candidate for the Palakkad seat.

See Also: Kerala: CPI shows strength as internal strains surface​

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President Sunny Joseph will contest from the Peravoor constituency, which he has held since May 2011. Chandy Oommen, son of former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, has been fielded from the Puthuppally constituency. Chandy entered politics in September 2023 and won the Puthuppally Assembly by-election.

On March 17, 2026, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance announced its first candidate list, fielding 47 candidates. Key leaders such as BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar will be contesting from the Nemom constituency, whereas former BJP state president V. Muraleedharan will contest from Kazhakkoottam in Thiruvananthapuram district.

The presence of the BJP in Kerala has been somewhat close to null over time. However, the saffron party won its first Assembly constituency in 2016 by securing victory in Nemom. Actor-politician Suresh Gopi achieved a key milestone by becoming the first BJP MP elected from Kerala in 2024.

The polling in the state will begin on April 9, 2026, and will take place in a single phase. The state has an electorate of 2.71 crore voters, and the Kerala Assembly election results, deciding the fate of the state, will be declared on May 4, 2026.

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