In the past 16 elections since 1957, Perumbavoor has refused to identify itself as the citadel of any political colour. The constituency has kept shifting its allegiance between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), though not very frequently. Both fronts have won eight elections each in Perumbavoor, making the April 9 polling a decider of sorts. An unusual rebellion within the Congress camp and the newfound alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Twenty20 make the contest in Perumbavoor something to watch out for this time. Perumbavoor was represented by Marxist ideologue P. Govinda Pillai in three of the first four elections in the constituency. In 1957, Mr. Pillai, who contested as the candidate of the undivided CPI, defeated K.A. Damodara Menon of the Congress. However, he lost the next election in 1960 to K.M. Chacko of the Congress. However, Mr. Pillai regained his ground in 1965 and retained it in 1967, defeating C.P. Poulose of the Kerala Congress and K.G.R. Kartha of the Congress, respectively. The Congress wrested Perumbavoor in 1970 as P.I. Poulose defeated the CPI(M)’s P.K. Gopalan Nair. However, the CPI(M)’s P.R. Sivan managed to keep the constituency within the Left fold for two consecutive terms in 1977 and 1980. He defeated Mr. Poulose and Kochunni Master A.A. of the Congress respectively. Congress leader P.P. Thankachan not only won back Perumbavoor for the party in 1982 but also managed to hold it for four consecutive times till 2001. In his winning streak, Thankachan defeated Sivanin 1982, Raman Kartha of the Janata Partyin 1987, and Alungal Devassy of the Janata Dal in 1991. In 1996, Thankachan defeated Kartha once again when the latter contested on the Janata Dal ticket. In 2001, the CPI(M) assigned Saju Paul to reclaim the seat in a move that proved successful. He defeated Thankachan and then Shanimol Usman and Jaison Joseph of the Congress 2006 and 2011 respectively. Young Congress leader Eldhose Kunnappilly ended the Left reign and wrested the constituency in 2016 when he defeated Mr. Paul by a margin of 7,088 votes. The public uproar over the rape-murder of a Dalit student in the constituency is believed to have contributed to Mr. Paul’s unexpected defeat. Mr. Kunnappilly retained the seat in 2021 notwithstanding the Left wave. Mr. Kunnappilly was all set for another contest this time, but the Congress has dashed his hopes by choosing former Ernakulam district panchayat president Manoj Moothedan over him. A sexual harassment case against Mr. Kunnappilly cost him dearly, though he managed to rally behind him a section of local leaders. The LDF has allotted the seat to the Kerala Congress(M) this time, and the party has fielded Basil Paul, who jumped the ship from the Congress. The KC(M)’s Babu Joseph Perumbavoor had managed to give Mr. Kunnappilly a scare in 2021 by bringing his winning margin down to 2,899 votes. The BJP has parted the seat with its new ally Twenty20. The Kitex-backed party’s plan to field actor Lakshmipriya as its candidate fell flat as it emerged that she was not enrolled in the voter rolls. The Twenty20 has found a replacement for Ms. Lakshmipriya in Jiby Pathikkal, also a former Congress local leader. Twenty20 had last time polled 20,536 votes, while the BJP managed to garner 15,135 votes. The alliance must be pinning its hopes on the combined figure, though it is yet to be clear how the typical voter base of Twenty20 respond to the newly stitched coalition. Besides the tension within the Congress camp over Mr. Kunnappilly’s future moves, influence of Church groups, presence of a sizeable migrant population and related conflicts and personal appeal of the candidates are expected to be crucial factors deciding the poll outcome. The UDF camp seems confident about the perceived anti-incumbency sentiments against the LDF government and its performance in the civic body elections. Published – March 22, 2026 01:24 am IST Share this: Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email More Click to print (Opens in new window) Print Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon Click to share on Nextdoor (Opens in new window) Nextdoor Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky Like this:Like Loading... Post navigation Tucker Carlson | Voice of America CM Gupta meets PM, discusses Delhi’s development