Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: UDF Triumphs, Left Parties Defeated

May 5, 20266 min readAsia

UDF secures majority, marking a historic shift in Kerala politics

{"results": [{"url": "https://www.thehindu.com/elections/kerala-assembly/with-defeat-in-kerala-left-out-of-power-for-first-time-since-1977/article70939651.ece", "title": "With defeat in Kerala, Left out of power for first time since 1977 - The Hindu", "author": "Sobhana K. Nair", "highlights": ["With defeat in Kerala, Left out of power for first time since 1977 - The Hindu\n[...]\n# With defeat in Kerala, Left out of power for first time since 1977\n[...]\n## Party leaders reject Congress charge of \u2018collusion with BJP\u2019, say will conduct forensic review of poll loss to identify and correct \u2018aberrations\u2019, both \u2018real or imagined\u2019\n[...]\nPublished - May 05, 2026 02:49 am IST - NEW DELHI\n[...]\nChanging tide: A UDF victory rally in Kannur, Kerala, on Monday. Kannur was considered a stronghold of the LDF in the State. | Photo Credit: S.K. Mohan\n[...]\nWith its defeat in the Kerala Assembly election, the Left parties are not in power in any State for the first time since 1977. The setback has sharpened questions over the political strategy of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. During its campaign, the Congress had accused the ruling party of colluding with the BJP, with the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, branding the CPI(M) as the \u201cCommunist Janata Party\u201d.\n[...]\nCPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby rejected the charge, calling it a \u201cdeliberate\u201d and \u201cdistorted\u201d narrative aimed at tarnishing the party\u2019s image. \u201cCPI(M) stands by all sections of people, we have always supported the socially excluded both in terms of religion and caste,\u201d he said."]}, {"url": "https://www.thehindu.com/data/kerala-assembly-election-results-2026-udf-ldf-congress-cpi-bjp-nda-malabar/article70938707.ece", "title": "UDF carries Kerala across all regions, thrives in Malabar", "author": "Areena Arora, Nitika Francis, Pon Vasanth B.A, Devyanshi Bihani, Sambavi Parthasarathy", "highlights": ["# UDF carries Kerala across all regions, thrives in Malabar - The Hindu\n\nPublished: 2026-05-04T18:12:44+05:30\nAuthor: Areena Arora, Nitika Francis, Pon Vasanth B.A, Devyanshi Bihani, Sambavi Parthasarathy\n\n## Summary\n\nThe United Democratic Front (UDF) has taken control of the 2026 Assembly in Kerala, leading by 64 seats. The result shows a significant shift from the previous year's elections to the current status quo. The UDF is seen as a powerful force in the world of power, controlling the political situation.\n\n## Story\n\nUDF carries Kerala across all regions, thrives in Malabar - The Hindu \u2716 You are logged in Loading... LOGOUT You don\u2019t have any Active Subscription. Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Your active subscription(s) Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription Products you've access to Additional Subscription Benefits Account Settings Need help with your subscription? # UDF carries Kerala across all regions, thrives in Malabar ## The BJP registers its best ever performance in Kerala by winning three seats Published - May 04, 2026 06:12 pm IST READ LATER Women stands in a queue to cast their vote in Namboothiri Vidyalayam, Thrissur | Photo Credit: K K Mustafah As Kerala\u2019s 2026 Assembly election results progress to the final rounds, the writing on the wall is clear that the State has drastically swung back to Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) rule. Results as of 4:20 p.m. show that the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has won 33 seats and is leading in only two, and down by 64 seats since the 2021 Assembly. Published - May 04, 2026 06:12 pm IST - Copy link - Email - Facebook - Twitter - Telegram - LinkedIn - WhatsApp - Reddit READ LATER PRINT ### Related Topics Data Point/ Kerala Assembly Elections 2026/ Kerala/ United Democratic Front/ Left Democratic Front/ Indian National Congress/ Communist Party of India -Marxist/ Election Commission of India 0 / 0 Sign in to unlock member-only benefits! - Access 10 free stories every month - Save stories to read later - Access to comment on every story - Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click - Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products ### Comments Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle."]}, {"url": "https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kerala-assembly-elections-2026-bjp-emerges-victorious-in-three-seats/article70939055.ece", "title": "Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: BJP emerges victorious in three seats - The Hindu", "author": "S.R. Praveen", "highlights": ["Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: BJP emerges victorious in three seats - The Hindu\n[...]\n# Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: BJP emerges victorious in three seats\n[...]\n## At Nemom, BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar defeated Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate and Minister V. Sivankutty by 4,978 votes. For former Union Minister V. Muraleedharan, victory came after a photo finish at Kazhakuttam. The most surprising victory for BJP was at Chathannur, where B.B. Gopakumar defeated CPI\u2019s R. Rajendran by 4,398 votes\n[...]\nBack in 2016, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made its historic entry into the Kerala Assembly with a win in Nemom, it was expected to propel the party\u2019s expansion in the State. However, five years later, the party found itself reduced again to zero seats in the 140-member House. The setback forced it to go back to the drawing board to reorient its strategies to gain a foothold in a State which has remained mostly averse to its brand of saffron politics.\n[...]\nIn the intervening years, it secured its first Lok Sabha seat and a historic win in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The momentum that the party built over the past two years appears to have kept the BJP in good stead as it secured three seats when the results of the Assembly elections were declared on Monday. Though its vote share hovered around 11%, much lesser than what it secured in previous elections, the political import of the three seats that it won, in a State which had remained almost impervious to it, was not lost on anyone. The party has made a significant step towards making a dent in the Left democratic Front (LDF)-United Democratic Front (UDF) duopoly which has dominated the State."]}, {"url": "https://www.thehindu.com/elections/kerala-assembly/kerala-election-2026-live-constituency-wise-full-list-of-winners-mla-dharmadam-paravur-nemom-thrissur-palakkad/article70908187.ece", "title": "Kerala elections 2026: Check full list of winners - The Hindu", "author": "The Hindu Bureau", "highlights": ["# Kerala elections 2026: Check full list of winners\n[...]\nAs the 2026 Kerala Assembly election results begin to trickle in, the State stands at a historic crossroads. The Congress-led UDF is surging ahead in Kerala as counting of votes for the Assembly elections gathered pace. The trends also indicated setbacks for the ruling front, with at least a dozen ministers trailing in their respective constituencies.\n[...]\nEarly trends shows that the UDF is ahead in 100 seats, while the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front is significantly trailing in second place. The BJP, which initially showed a strong performance in the early count, has seen a decline, now leading in only two seat instead of the impressive ten it had earlier."]}, {"url": "https://www.thehindu.com/elections/kerala-assembly/kerala-assembly-elections-2026-cpi-suffers-major-setback-seat-count-halved/article70938923.ece", "title": "Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: CPI suffers major setback, seat count halved - The Hindu", "author": "Sarath Babu George", "highlights": ["Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: CPI suffers major setback, seat count halved - The Hindu\n[...]\n# Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: CPI suffers major setback, seat count halved\n[...]\n## The outcome marks a sharp decline from the performance in the Assembly polls of 2021, when the party had won 17 seats. Despite the overall decline, three of party\u2019s incumbent Ministers managed to emerge victorious\n[...]\nThe Communist Party of India (CPI) has faced a major electoral reversal in the Assembly elections as it could manage to secure only eight seats.\n[...]\nThe Communist Party of India (CPI) has faced a major electoral reversal in the Assembly elections as it could manage to secure only eight seats.\n[...]\nThe outcome marks a sharp decline from the performance in the Assembly polls of 2021, when the party had won 17 seats."]}]}

Originally published by The Hindu.

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