NEW DELHI: In Kerala's Cherthala Assembly constituency, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate P Prasad emerged victorious, defeating the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate K R Rajendra Prasad by a margin of 14,489 votes. The electoral rolls for the 2026 Assembly election in Cherthala listed a total of 2,04,870 registered voters, comprising 99,330 males, 1,05,539 females, and one individual belonging to the third gender.
Cherthala Assembly Constituency Overview
Cherthala Assembly constituency, numbered 103, is located in the Alappuzha district of Kerala and falls under the Alappuzha parliamentary constituency. Established in 1957 and adjusted during the 2008 delimitation, it encompasses the Cherthala Municipality and panchayats such as Muhamma and Kanjikuzhi, along with coastal stretches along the Vembanad Lake. The constituency has approximately 2,10,000 electors. This general seat is vibrant with fishing, coir making, paddy fields, salt pans, tourism houseboats, and migrant labor, blending a backwater economy with rural resilience amid canals and lagoons.
Dominance of CPI(M) and LDF
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), part of the LDF, has consistently dominated this constituency. P Prasad has been the sitting MLA and Agriculture Minister since 2016. In the 2021 elections, he secured 78,234 votes, accounting for 52.41 per cent of the vote share, defeating Congress ally S Sharma, who garnered 57,772 votes. The margin of victory was 20,462 votes, or 13.70 per cent, at a voter turnout of 77.89 per cent. This margin widened from his 2016 victory margin of 11,903 votes. The LDF's fisher-labor base has effectively countered UDF challenges and the BJP's vote share of 7-9 per cent.
Key Issues in Cherthala
Several critical issues dominate the constituency, including coastal erosion that swallows farmlands, backwater flooding worsened by poor drainage, fish depletion due to pollution and overfishing, distress among coir workers due to mechanization, unemployment spurring migration, waste clogging waterways, road-waterlogging chaos, and demands for harbor upgrades, mangrove revival, seafood clusters, and climate-adaptive farming. These livelihood crises reinforce the LDF's stronghold in this iconic waterside battleground.
Exit polls released for the high-stakes Kerala battle indicated a competitive contest, with the incumbent LDF government seeking a third consecutive term amid a strong challenge from the UDF. Follow the latest election results 2026, live updates, winner lists, constituency-wise results, party-wise trends, and full coverage for Tamil Nadu election results, West Bengal election results, Kerala election results, Assam election results, and Puducherry election results on Times of India.
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