Kerala Election Results 2026 Live Updates: Congress emerges single largest party with 63 seats, UDF set to form govt

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wish to see the BJP’s rise in electoral politics in Kerala now rests on its three entrants to the state Assembly, among whom are two former union ministers.

The BJP in Kerala, which has long struggled to secure a political foothold in a state traditionally witnessing a bipolar contest between the LDF and UDF, on Monday made significant gains in the Assembly elections by winning three seats.

The State Assembly, set to be dominated by the Congress-led UDF with the LDF in opposition, will also have three BJP members, marking a significant development for the party in the southern state.

The CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF had dismissed the BJP’s chances of winning any seats, but the saffron party defied expectations by securing three constituencies, all from the Left front.

Though the outcome may appear modest to the UDF and LDF, for the BJP—long politically marginal in Kerala—these wins are being seen as a breakthrough.

The results also reflect the efforts of the party’s star campaigners, including PM Narendra Modi, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, and Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman, who made several visits to Kerala to boost the party’s prospects.

The efforts appear to have paid off to some extent, even as the party had initially hoped to reach double-digit seats.

Two of the seats—Nemom and Kazhakoottam—are in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation area, where the BJP has a significant presence, as reflected in its control of the civic body in the recent local body polls.

The third seat, Chathannoor, is in Kollam district, close to the state capital.

Of the three BJP winners, two are former Union Ministers of State—Rajeev Chandrasekhar and V Muraleedharan—both of whom had contested and lost from Thiruvananthapuram in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The third, B B Gopakumar, a local party leader, won the Chathannoor seat on his third attempt.

However, senior BJP leaders K Surendran, Padmaja Venugopal and Sobha Surendran were unsuccessful.

Both K Surendran and Padmaja Venugopal lost in their third consecutive attempts from Manjeshwar and Thrissur, respectively, while Sobha Surendran lost from Palakkad for the second time, having earlier contested there in 2016.

Notably, the BJP fielded candidates in 98 seats and allotted the remaining to allies, Twenty20 and Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS).

The BJP has long struggled to make political inroads in Kerala, which has traditionally seen a bipolar contest between the LDF and UDF.

Though it won Nemom in the 2016 Assembly elections, the seat returned to the CPI(M) in 2021, and the BJP’s electoral breakthrough came only in 2024 when it won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat.

It later won the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in the 2025 local body polls and has now secured three seats in the State Assembly.

At the same time, the party’s vote share dropped to 11.42 per cent in the Assembly elections, according to Election Commission data. It was around 15 per cent in the local body polls.

Reacting to the outcome, Chandrasekhar said it was largely an anti-CPI(M) election, with both the UDF and BJP benefiting.

He also described the elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala as being “against the INDIA bloc” and claimed that voters had helped defeat governments of that political front in those states.

He said the results marked the final phase of what he termed Marxist-style governance.

Chandrasekhar further claimed that during the past 10 years of LDF rule, there was no effective opposition in the state, as the Congress remained silent due to its INDIA bloc alignment. (PTI)

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of CPI(M) secured a decisive victory in Dharmadam constituency in the 2026 Kerala Assembly election, winning 85,614 votes and leading by a margin of 19,247 votes. Congress candidate Adv. V. P. Abdul Rasheed finished second with 66,367 votes, while BJP’s K. Ranjith came third with 18,555 votes.

The contest saw CPI(M) maintain a comfortable lead throughout counting, while independent candidates and others remained far behind. NOTA recorded 813 votes.

The 2026 Kerala Assembly election saw strong performances from Independent and regional candidates across three constituencies. In Payyannur, V. Kunhikrishnan secured victory with 76,640 votes, winning by a margin of 7,487. Mani C. Kappen won Pala with 50,799 votes, leading by 2,991 votes. In Ambalappuzha, G. SudhaKaran registered a decisive win with 75,184 votes, securing the largest margin of 27,935 votes.

The Chathannoor constituency in the 2026 Kerala Assembly election witnessed a competitive three-way fight, with B.B. Gopakumar of the BJP emerging victorious. He secured 51,923 votes, defeating CPI’s Adv. R. Rajendran, who finished second with 47,525 votes, trailing by 4,398 votes.

Congress candidate Sooraj Ravi came in third with 35,276 votes, while other contestants, including those from AAP and smaller parties, remained far behind in the race. NOTA recorded 728 votes.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP clinched the Nemom seat in the 2026 Kerala Assembly election, securing 57,192 votes (40.75%) and defeating CPI(M)’s V. Sivankutty, who put up a strong fight with 52,214 votes (37.20%). Congress candidate Adv. K. S. Sabarinadhan finished third with 29,730 votes (21.18%).

The contest remained tightly fought between BJP and CPI(M) through the counting rounds, but Chandrasekhar maintained a steady lead to seal the win. Other candidates, including those from SUCI(C), Aam Aadmi Party, and independents, secured only marginal vote shares, while NOTA received 604 votes (0.43%).

Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Monday secured a narrow victory in the Kottarakkara constituency in the April 9 state assembly polls, as he faced a tough fight from former CPI(M) leader Aisha Potty, who had joined the Congress in January this year.

Balagopal, who got 63,926 votes, won with just a margin of 1,012, against Potty who had won three times consecutively from the Kottarakkara constituency in the 2006, 2011 and 2016 assembly polls as a CPI(M) candidate.

Potty, in 2016, had secured 83,443 votes and won with a margin of over 40,000 votes from the constituency.

In 2021, Balagopal was fielded from the seat and got 68,770 seats, winning by a margin of 10,814.

Besides, state PWD and Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas, Balagopal is the only CPI(M) minister to survive the Left rout by the UDF in the Assembly polls.

However, by comparison, three out of the 4 CPI ministers in the second LDF government have healthy leads in the Assembly polls as the counting of votes nears the end. (PTI)

Former Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate V Muraleedharan on Monday won the Kazhakootam Assembly constituency seat in Keralam.

Muraleedharan had faced off against CPI(M)'s Kadakampally Surendran, and the Congress had fielded advocate Sarathchandra Prasad.

Muraleedharan is a seasoned national leader and former Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs. Muraleedharan is aiming for a comeback in the seat he had previously contested in 2016, where he secured 42,732 votes but lost by 7,347 votes.

Earlier in the day, BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar won the Nemom Assembly seat.

Notably, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), for the first time in the history of Kerlam politics, will now have three MLAs representing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Keralam Assembly

After securing victory, he underlined that this election witnessed a very strong anti-incumbency against the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

"It is for the first time that we are seeing that the party is being supported by the people across the board. We saw that in the local body elections, when the people of Thiruvananthapuram gave NDA the mandate to govern the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, and it follows from that that in these Assembly elections, there was a very strong anti-incumbency against the CPI (M). These elections were more about throwing out the CPI (M). We have put forth a very comprehensive vision for PM for development and opportunities for all Malayalis. We are very happy that there are 2 MLAs in the Keralam Assembly to represent the NDA and the people of Keralam for the first time in the history of the State. This will be the start of a new beginning for Keralam's development," he said.

Keralam went to the polls in a single phase on April 9, with a strong voter turnout of 78.27 per cent.

Adv. Sumesh Achuthan of Congress won the Chittur constituency with 65,325 votes, defeating Indian Socialist Janata Dal candidate Adv. V. Murugadas by a margin of 6,510 votes. Murugadas secured 58,815 votes. BJP candidate Pranesh Rajendran finished third with 14,697 votes.

Adv. T Siddique of Congress won the Kalpetta constituency with 97,379 votes, defeating Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate P K Anil Kumar by a margin of 45,031 votes. Anil Kumar secured 52,348 votes. BJP candidate Prasanth Malavayal finished third with 19,175 votes.