The Congress-led UDF has achieved a landslide victory in the Kerala Assembly elections, going past the 100-plus target set by leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheeshan for the coalition and delivering a body blow to the CPM-led LDF, which was looking for a hat-trick this time.
The verdict also saw the two fronts having to make space for the BJP-led NDA, with the party winning a record three seats and registering its presence in the Assembly for the second time ever.
Veteran Congressman and former chief minister A.K. Antony termed the United Democratic Front (UDF) victory an “anti-government cyclone” against 10 years of “misgovernance” by the Pinarayi Vijayan dispensation.
Right from day one, Satheesan had predicted that the UDF would get 100-plus seats. While this was seen as overconfidence by a section in the Congress, Satheesan — among the three front-runners for the post of chief minister — stood vindicated with a record 102 seats for the coalition.
Initially, K.C. Venugopal, AICC general secretary (organisation), and Congress Working Committee leader Ramesh Chennithala did not echo Satheesan’s magical figure of 100-plus seats. But a few weeks into the hectic campaign, the rest of the party fell in line and began claiming that come May 4, the UDF would register a trail-blazing victory.
On Monday, by the third round of counting, the mood at the Congress headquarters at Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram turned upbeat, with party workers kickstarting celebrations by distributing laddoos and kheer. When Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sunny Joseph, Satheeshan, Chennithala, Venugopal and senior MPs Shashi Tharoor and Kodikunnil Suresh reached Indira Bhavan, the party workers decided to cook biryani, anticipating a landslide victory.
But now the state unit of the party is bracing for the fight within for the top post between Venugopal, Satheesan and Chennithala. Venugopal used his access to the central leadership and ensured that his loyalists got party tickets in anticipation of such a contest in the Congress Legislature Party.
However, the AICC leadership cannot sideline Satheesan either, as he led “Team UDF” in the crucial Assembly elections. Chennithala has also been flexing his muscles, hoping his administrative experience and long association with the party will see him through. But the ball is in the court of Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The drubbing at the hustings for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) was particularly bruising for Pinarayi, who had led the coalition to a record second term in 2021. Though he won his seat, Dharmadam, in the CPM stronghold of Kannur, he had trailed in the first six rounds. With this loss in Kerala, the CPM now has no government in the country for the first time since 1977.
Equally humiliating for Pinarayi is the fact that three dissident leaders who left the party over differences with his high-handed ways have won as Independents backed by the UDF — G. Sudhakaran (Ambalapuzha), V. Kunhikrishnan (Payyannur) and T.K. Govindan (Thaliparamba). Branded “traitors” by Vijayan, all three won with sizable margins, defeating the CPM’s official candidates.
“Every aspect that led to the defeat would be analysed. We are thanking the LDF workers and the people who voted for the front. The LDF will evaluate and study the defeat, after which required corrections will be made,” said CPM state secretary M.V. Govindan.
The CPM’s loss came on the 14th death anniversary of former party dissident leader T.P. Chandrasekharan, who was allegedly hacked to death with 52 cuts by party activists. Following ideological differences with the party, Chandrasekharan had formed the Revolutionary Marxist Party, which led to his killing.
Referring to Vijayan trailing during the first six rounds of voting in Dharmadam on Monday, Chandrasekharan’s wife, K.K. Rema, wrote on Facebook: “Six rounds have passed. Enough, Kerala. This is enough. The person who had allegedly branded others as traitors and called for their elimination is now standing exposed in the scorching sun. Chandrasekharan has witnessed this after a long wait of twelve years.”
For the BJP, which had an MLA in Kerala only once before, the 2026 verdict of three seats is a breakthrough. The winners are Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Nemom), V. Muraleedharan (Kazhakoottam) and B.B. Gopakumar (Chathannur). Though Chandrasekhar and Muraleedharan’s victory had been anticipated, Gopakumar’s was a surprise.