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Kerala, Assam and Puducherry are polling in a single phase today (April 9). Voting is being held across 126 seats in Assam, 140 in Kerala, and 30 in Puducherry, with the results declared on May 4.
In Assam, 2.5 crore voters will decide the fate of 722 candidates. Around 2.7 crore electors will exercise their franchise in Kerala, with 890 candidates putting their hat in the ring. As many as 9.44 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots in Puducherry, with 294 candidates trying their luck.
As the two states and the Union Territory go to the
polls, here’s a look at the key battles to keep an eye on.
Assam Assembly elections: Key contests
In Assam, the key fight is between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies – Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), and the Congress-led opposition alliance of six parties. Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) is contesting the polls alone this time.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is seeking a second term in the northeastern state and a third for the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance). He is fighting from the Jalukbari constituency, which he has represented since 2001. The Congress has pitted 34-year-old Bidisha Neog against Sarma.
In the 2021 Assam Assembly polls, Sarma secured a staggering 77.38 per cent of the vote, winning by a margin of more than 100,000 votes against the Congress candidate Romen Chandra Borthakur.
All eyes will be on the Jorhat Assembly constituency, which is witnessing a high-stakes contest between Assam Congress president
Gaurav Gogoi and BJP’s former Assam Assembly Speaker and former minister Hitendra Nath Goswami.
A three-time Lok Sabha MP, Gogoi is making his debut in the state polls. He is the chief ministerial face of the Congress-led opposition alliance.
BJP’s Goswami had won the seat in the 2021 polls, defeating the Congress candidate Rana Goswami by a margin of over 6,000 votes.
Pradyut Bordoloi, who jumped ship from the Congress to the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls in Assam, has been fielded from the Dispur constituency. He is up against Congress rival Mira Borthakur Goswami and Jayanta Kumar Das, who is in the fray as an independent.
The Dispur Assembly seat is currently held by BJP’s Atul Bora, who beat Congress leader Manjit Mahanta by a margin of over 1.2 lakh votes in 2021.
At 27, Kunki Chowdhury has grabbed Assam’s attention as the youngest candidate in the elections. She is fighting on a ticket from Congress’s ally Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) from the Guwahati Central constituency.
Chowdhury is taking on the BJP’s 70-year-old Vijay Kumar Gupta, a businessman and the saffron party’s organisation man. During the electoral campaigning, the young politician found herself in the middle of the spotlight after her family was targeted by Chief Minister Sarma.
The high-profile battle from Guwahati Central between the underdog and the veteran is a must-watch.
Akhil Gogoi is vying to retain the Sibsagar Assembly constituency, which he won in 2021 by 11,875 votes against the BJP’s Surabhi Rajkonwari.
Akhil Gogoi’s Raijor Dal is part of the opposition alliance led by the Congress. The BJP has fielded Kushal Dowari from the Sibsagar seat, making it a triangular contest as its ally AGP has nominated Pradip Hazarika.
Kerala Assembly elections: Big fights
In Kerala, the election battle is dominated by CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). The BJP is also vying to make greater inroads in the southern state.
It is expected to be a tight contest in Kerala this time, as the UDF seeks to return to power and deny LDF a third consecutive term.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, 81, is fighting from the Dharmadam Assembly seat in Kannur. The UDF has fielded VP Abdul Rasheed as its candidate against the CPI(M) veteran. Vijayan had won the seat in the 2021 Kerala Assembly polls by a margin of a little over 50,000 votes against Congress candidate C Raghunathan.
Vijayan, who is aiming to secure a third term, has been portrayed as the man who transformed Kerala. The UDF is, however, giving a tough fight.
The contest for the Nemom seat in Thiruvananthapuram has attracted attention from across the country. V Sivankutty of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is trying to retain the seat but is up against two strong rivals. BJP Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Congress’ KS Sabarinadhan are also in the fray from Nemom.
Notably, in the 2016 Kerala Assembly polls, Nemom was the only seat which elected a BJP candidate — O Rajagopal. However, in 2021, CPI(M) leader Sivankutty was elected as an MLA from the constituency, which he had also won in 2011.
Another high-profile constituency, Palakkad, is witnessing a triangular contest. The UDF has nominated film and television personality Ramesh Pisharody, who is contesting against BJP state general secretary Sobha Surendran and LDF-backed Independent NMR Razak.
In the 2021 polls, UDF’s Shafi Parambil bested NDA candidate Metroman E Sreedharan to win the Palakkad constituency for a third time by 3,859 votes.
Aranmula is also seeing a tight three-way contest. Kerala Health Minister Veena George is the sitting MLA, who is hoping to bag a third term on an LDF ticket. The UDF’s candidate is Abin Varkey, a Youth Congress leader. The NDA has fielded BJP veteran Kummanam Rajasekharan against the duo.
CPI(M) leader George had won the Aranmula seat with 74,950 votes and 46.30 per cent vote share in 2021. The Congress candidate K Sivadasan Nair had emerged as the runner-up, securing 55,947 votes and 34.56 per cent vote share.
A high-voltage tussle is taking place in the Peravoor constituency in the Kannur district between UDF’s Sunny Joseph and former Health Minister and CPI(M) candidate KK Shailaja. Joseph is a three-time sitting Congress MLA from Peravoor, who is aiming to defend his turf again.
Fondly known as “teacher”, Shailaja has expressed confidence about wresting the Peravoor Assembly seat from Congress. She represented the constituency in 2006 but lost to Sunny Joseph in 2011, who has been the Peravoor MLA since then. Shailaja had won the Mattannur constituency with a record majority of 60,963 votes in the 2021 Assembly election. However, the LDF shifted her to Peravoor this time.
Puducherry Assembly polls: Major battles
The NDA alliance, comprising All India NR Congress (AINRC) and the BJP, is facing the opposition coalition led by the Congress. Tamil actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is making its electoral debut in the Puducherry Assembly polls.
Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy has again entered the fray from the Thattanchavady Assembly constituency. The Congress has pulled a surprise by fielding V Vaithilingam, a two-time CM and a sitting MP, from the high-profile seat.
Thattanchavady is a stronghold of Rangasamy, who won the seat four times in a row since 1991 before shifting to the Indira Nagar constituency in the 2011 elections.
In 2021, he returned to the seat, winning it by a margin of 5,456 votes against K Sethu Selvam of the Communist Party of India.
Puducherry BJP president VP Ramalingam is contesting the polls from the Raj Bhavan Assembly constituency. He is being challenged by Vignesh Kannan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), son of former Puducherry minister P Kannan. DMK is fighting the polls in alliance with the Congress.
The BJP’s ally, the All India NR Congress, had successfully contested from the Raj Bhavan seat in the 2021 Assembly polls.
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