Mannarkkad election results 2026: IUML vs CPI(M) contest returns in closely watched Palakkad constituency

MANNARKAD: The result is in from Mannarkad in Kerala. IUML candidate Adv. N. Samsudheen has won the seat with 90,606 votes, finishing 25,903 votes ahead of CPI's Manzil Aboobacker, who polled 64,703 votes. The 56-year-old, who holds a graduate professional degree, secured the constituency for the Indian Union Muslim League by a comfortable margin.Straddling Kerala's Palakkad district in the foothills of the Western Ghats, the Mannarkkad Assembly constituency ranks 54th among the state's 140 legislative seats, forming a key segment of the Palakkad Lok Sabha region. This general seat engages nearly 200,000 voters from a diverse mix including significant tribal populations in Attappadi, with turnouts around 75 per cent, covering Mannarkkad town and panchayats amid forested hills and plantations in north Kerala. It showcases IUML's breakthrough against LDF's traditional rural dominance, blending minority and Adivasi dynamics. In the 2021 Kerala Assembly elections, IUML's N. Samsudheen powered through with 72,724 votes at 44.67 per cent, narrowly topping CPI(M)'s K. Muraleedharan's 66,510 votes (40.87 per cent) by 6,214 votes amid strong participation. The 2016 contest saw IUML's the same Samsudheen claim victory with around 65,000 votes (roughly 43 per cent), defeating CPI(M) challengers by over 5,000 votes from nearly 190,000 voters, marking UDF's foothold in this once-LDF turf. Eyeing 2026, Mannarkkad's shifting sands since IUML's 2016 ingress, propelled by tribal welfare and plantation labor issues, test LDF's comeback bids alongside BJP's outreach. Forest rights and eco-development will fuel the fray, rendering this UDF gain a barometer for Palakkad's evolving political contours.