Kottayam Election Result 2026: Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan Wins by Massive 35,986 Votes

Congress leader Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan secures a dominant victory in Kottayam, polling nearly 69,000 votes and defeating CPI(M)’s K. Anilkumar by a huge margin of over 35,000 votes.

Kottayam Assembly constituency, numbered 97, is situated in Kottayam district of Kerala and falls under the Kottayam parliamentary constituency. Established in 1957 and redefined during the 2008 delimitation, it covers Kottayam municipality, nearby panchayats like Changanacherry and Puthuppally fringes, serving around 152,000 electors. This general urban-rural seat is famed for high literacy, rubber plantations, Christian communities (Syrian Catholics dominant), publishing industry, medical colleges, and eco-tourism amid lush hills and backwaters, embodying Kerala's progressive heartland with strong NRI remittances. Kerala Congress (Jacob) [KC(J)] of the UDF holds firm with P.K. Jayalakshmi as current MLA since 2016. In 2021, she won with 63,708 votes (48.15per cent), defeating CPI(M)'s Paramjyothi S. (48,631 votes) by 15,077 votes (11.39per cent) at 73.89per cent turnout, building on her 2016 margin of 10,935 over INC's Sethuraman. KC(J)'s church-backed legacy trumps LDF surges and BJP's 12-14per cent share.

Key issues include rubber farmer distress from price crashes-wildlife raids, youth unemployment despite education hubs, monsoon flooding in lowlands, traffic congestion around colleges-markets, water scarcity despite reservoirs, healthcare strains post-pandemic, and demands for better roads, IT parks, and festival infrastructure. These socioeconomic concerns sustain UDF's edge in this literate, competitive central Kerala bastion.
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