Kochi (Kerala) [India], March 21 : Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate P Rajeev on Saturday filed his nomination papers for the Kalamassery constituency in Ernakulam district for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections.
The 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, the Election Commission of India announced on March 15, with the counting of votes scheduled to take place on May 4. The tenure of the current assembly is scheduled to end on May 23.
The Model Code of Conduct comes into place, setting in process elections to the 140-member State Assembly, which is also known as the Kerala Niyamasabha.
Both the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the Congress-led United Democratic Front seek to unseat the incumbent CPI(M)-led LDF and gain control of the 140-member assembly. The LDF-led government has governed the state for around a decade.
In the Kerala Legislative Assembly election, held in a single phase on April 6, 2021, with results being declared on May 2, 2021. The incumbent LDF retained power with 99 seats, marking the first time since 1977 that a ruling alliance secured consecutive terms in the state. The UDF won 41 seats, while the NDA saw a decline in vote share and lost its only seat in the Assembly. Following the victory, Pinarayi Vijayan became the first Chief Minister of Kerala to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term in office.
In terms of vote share, the LDF received 41.5 per cent of the total votes, significantly ahead of the UDF, which secured 38.4 per cent. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), secured 11.4 per cent of the votes but failed to win a single seat in the election.
Among individual parties in 2021, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) emerged as the single largest party with 62 seats and a vote share of 25.5 per cent. The Indian National Congress (INC) won 21 seats with a comparable vote share of 25.2 per cent, while the Communist Party of India (CPI) secured 17 seats. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key UDF ally, won 15 seats.