Three-cornered contests in at least nine Kerala constituencies could determine the outcome of the April 9 assembly elections. Battles between LDF, UDF, and NDA are intensifying in seats like Nemom, Kazhakkoottam, and others across the state.
The Kerala assembly elections scheduled for April 9 feature three-cornered contests in at least nine constituencies that could sway the final outcome. Six of these seats are held by Left Democratic Front (LDF) MLAs, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), while three are with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). The key battlegrounds are Nemom, Kazhakkoottam, Vattiyoorkkavu, and Aranmula in the south; Pala, Thrissur, and Nattika in central Kerala; and Palakkad and Manjeshwaram in the north. In Nemom, Thiruvananthapuram, LDF's K. Sivankutty, who won back the seat in 2021 by 3,949 votes over BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan, faces BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and UDF's K.S. Sabarinadhan. Vattiyoorkkavu sees UDF incumbent V.K. Prasanth seeking a third term against NDA's R. Sreelekha, a former DGP, and K. Muraleedharan of UDF. In Kazhakkoottam, LDF's Kadakampally Surendran defends against BJP's V. Muraleedharan, with UDF's T. Sharatchandra Prasad in the fray; Surendran won by 23,497 votes in 2021. Aranmula pits LDF Health Minister Veena George against NDA's Rajasekharan and UDF's Abin Varkey. Thrissur, where LDF's P. Balachandran won by 946 votes in 2021, now has LDF's Alankode Leelakrishnan versus UDF's Rajan Pallan and NDA's Padmaja Venugopal. Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan alleged an LDF-BJP 'deal' in Palakkad, where UDF's Ramesh Pisharody faces NDA's Shobha Surendran and LDF independent NMR Razak. Manjeshwaram sees NDA's K. Surendran challenging UDF again after narrow losses. Pala and Nattika could see first triangular fights, with LDF's Jose K. Mani, NDA's Shone George, and UDF's Mani C. Kappan in Pala; NDA's C.C. Mukundan versus others in Nattika.
