2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Kerala on 9 April 2026 to elect 140 members of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on 4 May 2026.
The tenure of Kerala Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 23 May 2026. The previous assembly elections were held in April 2021. After the election, the incumbent Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front formed the state government again after winning 99 out of 140 seats in the assembly, with Pinarayi Vijayan sworn in as the Chief Minister.
The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Kerala Legislative Assembly election on 15 March 2026.
According to the Election Commission of India, 26,953,644 voters were eligible to vote in the assembly elections in Kerala. This includes 13,126,048 male, 13,827,319 female, and 277 transgender voters.
There are 140 constituencies in Kerala, spread across 14 districts, based on the Delimitation Commission of 2002. These 140 constituencies had a major demarcation with many present in the 2006 elections becoming non-existent and newer ones coming into existence.
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of left-wing political parties led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Indian state of Kerala.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) is the Indian National Congress-led alliance of political parties in the Indian state of Kerala.
The seat sharing was finalised on 18 March 2026. The UDF is supporting 4 Independent candidates: V. Kunjikrishnan in Payyanur (supported by RSP), T. K. Govindan in Taliparamba, G. Sudhakaran in Ambalappuzha, and Sivan Veettikunnu in Chelakkara (supported by IUML). In Ottapalam, although P. K. Sasi was initially considered an independent, he is now officially contesting on the Hand symbol (Kaippathi) and is therefore counted as a candidate for the Indian National Congress.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is an Indian multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In February 2026, LDF organised three Development Advancement Marches (Malayalam: à ´Âà µ½à ´¡à ´¿à ´Âà ´«à µ à ´µà ´¿à ´Âà ´¸à ´¨ à ´®à µÂà ´¨à µÂà ´¨à µÂà ´±à µÂà ´± à ´Âà ´¾à ´¥) covering the northern, central and southern regions of Kerala. The march captains were M. V. Govindan, Jose K. Mani and Binoy Viswam respectively. On 10 March 2026, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) released its campaign slogan for the assembly election, "Mattarundu LDF Allathe"(Malayalam: à ´®à ´±à µÂà ´±à ´¾à ´°à µÂà ´£à µÂà ´Âà µÂ, à ´Âà µ½à ´¡à ´¿à ´Âà ´«à µ à ´ à ´²à µÂà ´²à ´¾à ´¤à µÂ...) which translates to "Who else but LDF?". Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan kick-started his election campaign from his home constituency, Dharmadam on 17 March 2026.
On 6 February 2026, V. D. Satheesan launched the 'Puthuyuga Yathra',(Malayalam:à ´ªà µÂà ´¤à µÂà ´¯à µÂà ´ à ´¯à ´¾à ´¤à µÂà ´°)which translates to "March into new era", from Kasaragod districtâÂÂs Kumbla and covering the whole of Kerala ending at Putharikandam Ground in Thiruvananthapuram with Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi inaugurating the closing event.On 15 March 2026, the United Democratic Front (UDF) released their campaign slogan "Keralam jayikkum, UDF nayikkum"(Malayalam:à ´Âà µÂà ´°à ´³à ´ à ´Âà ´¯à ´¿à ´Âà µÂà ´Âà µÂà ´Â, à ´¯à µÂà ´¡à ´¿à ´Âà ´«à µ à ´¨à ´¯à ´¿à ´Âà µÂà ´Âà µÂà ´Â) which roughly translates to 'Kerala will win, and UDF will lead'.
Key Promises Announced by the UDF:
The BJP- led National Democratic Alliance released their campaign slogan "Marathathu Ini Marum"(Malayalam: à ´®à ´¾à ´±à ´¾à ´¤à µÂà ´¤à ´¤à µ à ´Âà ´¨à ´¿ à ´®à ´¾à ´±à µÂà ´Â) which roughly translates to 'What never changed will now change'. As part of the election campaign, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and BJP state committee organized a public interaction and a mega adalat in Dharmadam assembly constituency being represented by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on 6 March 2026. On 11 March 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the official election campaigning of BJP for the upcoming Kerala elections from Kochi.
<u><big>Key Promises Announced by the NDA:https://www.bjp.org/files/inline-documents/Kerala-Election-Manifesto-2026-English.pdf</big></u>
CPI(M) released the first list of 81 candidates on 15 March 2026. CPI released the first list of 25 candidates on 15 March 2026. ISJD released the first list of 3 candidates on 16 March 2026. KC(M) released the first list of 12 candidates on 16 March 2026. NCP(SP) released the first list of 3 candidates on 16 March 2026. RJD released the first list of 3 candidates on 18 March 2026.
RSP released the first list of 4 candidates on 16 March 2026. INC released the first list of 55 candidates on 17 March 2026; the second list of 37 candidates on 19 March 2026. IUML released the first list of 25 candidates on 17 March 2026. KC released the first list of 8 candidates on 17 March 2026.
BJP released the first list of 47 candidates on 16 March 2026; the second list of 39 candidates on 19 March 2026. Twenty20 Party released the first list of 4 candidates on 16 March 2026; second and third list of total 8 candidates on 17 March 2026. BDJS released the first list of 12 candidates on 16 March 2026; the second list of 11 candidates on 19 March 2026.