Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: Comeback, continuity or change? Poonjar faces a three-way test

The otherwise smooth run along the Kottayam-Kumily road grinds into a choke point at Mundakkayam, the gateway to the high ranges and today a stage for high voltage politics. A few hundred metres in, a saffron convoy cuts through the traffic. At its helm, standing tall in an open-roofed vehicle is P.C. George, waving and smiling.

Now the Bharatiya Janata Party’s face in Poonjar, Kottayam’s easternmost Assembly constituency, the seven-time legislator is no stranger to political combat. Every 200 metres, the convoy halts. Workers gather and raise slogans, and Mr. George delivers quick-fire speeches. “I am banking on development, the work I have done across Poonjar,” he declares, his voice cutting through the summer haze.

A bitter rupture

But beneath the confidence lies an unfinished business. Five years ago, Mr. George suffered a stinging defeat to the Left Democratic Front, losing by over 16,000 votes. The primary reason was hard to miss, a sharp backlash from the Muslim electorate that had once stood firmly behind him. His shift to the BJP followed a bitter rupture with that very support base in Erattupetta, which had powered his 2016 victory even as an Independent after breaking away from the Kerala Congress (M).

Today, he is attempting a reset. “We have moved past all that. I have no enmity with anyone. My Muslim friends in Erattupetta are with me again,” he insists.

Stretching from the Wagamon hills to the edges of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, Poonjar is a sprawling, politically layered terrain. Since its formation in 1957, it has largely remained a Kerala Congress bastion. Mr. George himself has shaped much of that legacy, winning here seven times across shifting alliances and fronts. Over the past five years, however, the ground beneath Poonjar has literally given way.

Scarred landscape

A turn to the left off Mundakkayam leads to Koottickal, where rubber plantations hug the hillsides and the Pullakayar river snakes through the valley. This is also the scarred landscape of recent memory, villages like Koottickal, Kokkayar and Enthayar battered by landslides and flash floods soon after the last Assembly polls. The road climbs to Elangadu, where tragedy struck, before turning into a rough track, all uphill.

Under the shade of a sprawling jackfruit tree along this route, UDF candidate M.J. Sebastian, Saji Joseph to local people, runs a grounded campaign. His pitch is clear and pointed. “Poonjar needs a new economic direction. I am proposing an agri-business model and the Congress leadership has assured priority for it on forming the next government,” he says.

A former Thalappalam panchayat president, Mr. Sebastian is betting big on anti-incumbency. For him, the contest is a straight fight between the UDF and the LDF. The NDA, he argues, is merely background noise.

Sebastian Kulathungal, the sitting legislator, however, does not concur. From Puthenchantha, a spice trade hub that hums silently beneath the political din, the Kerala Congress (M) leader draws his battle lines differently. “My fight is with Mr. George. He came second last time. The UDF is not even in the picture,” he says, brushing aside reports of anti-incumbency.

Shifting social equations

Mr. Kulathungal, who toppled Mr. George in 2021, is now pitching stability and steady governance as his calling card. From roads to development works and welfare measures, he rolls out his record with assurance and bets that continuity will win him another term. “People have seen the difference. They want this to continue,” he says, projecting quiet confidence.

Yet beneath the campaign rhetoric, Poonjar’s real story lies in its shifting social equations. Since 2021, this constituency has become a political litmus test, marked by what many describe as a widening trust gap between its two key minority communities, Christians and Muslims. All three major candidates belong to the Syro Malabar Catholic community, which holds significant sway here. But the decisive factor could once again be the direction of the Muslim vote.

Mixed signals

In 2016, it rallied behind Mr. George, handing him victory. In 2021, it swung decisively towards the Left. Now, the signals are mixed.

Recent local body elections hint at a consolidation of minority votes in favour of the Congress-led UDF. But whether that trend holds or fractures under the weight of old loyalties and new calculations remains the million vote question.

Published – April 07, 2026 09:55 am IST