Kerala Assembly polls 2026: 676 candidates file nominations

Election officials here said that 676 candidates had filed nomination papers for the April 9 Assembly polls in the State when the deadline for submitting them ended at 3 p.m. on Monday.

In all, 1,181 forms have been filed, counting multiple forms submitted by some of the candidates.

The data is based on a 5 p.m. update from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) and is likely to change.

A final picture of the candidates will emerge after the scrutiny of the nomination papers on Tuesday (March 24).

As many as 335 candidates filed their papers (a total of 574 forms) on Monday alone.

There were 957 candidates in the fray in the 140 constituencies for the 2021 Assembly elections in the State.

Speaking at the release of ‘Vottarivu,’ an election booklet published by the Thiruvananthapuram unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Kerala CEO Rathan U. Kelkar sought the cooperation of voters to ensure the highest voter turnout in Kerala’s electoral history during the 2026 Assembly polls.

The aim is to cross the 85% turnout mark this time, he said.