Kerala Assembly polls 2026: With a few hours left for end of public campaign, poll zeal at its peaks in Angamaly

Sunbeams piercing through dense green foliage illuminated the Mookkannoor–Ezhattumugham Road in Angamaly. A sizeable group of Congress workers, draped in tricolour shawls, assembled at Kidangoor Kavala, nearly two-and-a-half kilometres from Karayamparambu, around 8 a.m.

An announcement vehicle, seeking a consecutive third term for incumbent Congress MLA Roji M. John, set the tone for the final lap of the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate’s campaign in Mookkannoor panchayat on Monday (April 6, 2026). As local campaign managers signalled the entourage to get ready, Mr. John took charge of the microphone to launch a scathing attack on what he termed the ‘10-year misrule’ of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala.

“This election is an opportunity to end it, and we are confident that the public will stand with the UDF,” he said, before listing a host of development initiatives, including roads and bridges he has undertaken since 2016. “The Kalady bridge, which received an allocation of ₹42 crore during the Congress-led Oommen Chandy government, is in the final stage of construction,” he added.

He blamed the LDF government for the delay in realising the Angamaly bypass project. “It was among the hollow promises made under the government’s much-hyped Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board [KIIFB],” he alleged.

Saju Paul, Left front candidate in Angamaly, at the Mor Sobore Afroth Jacobite Syrian cathedral in Akaparambu.
| Photo Credit:
G. Krishnakumar 

Nearly six kilometres away in Akaparambu, three-time Perumbavoor MLA Saju Paul of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] was having a breakfast chat with Geevarghese Areeckal, vicar of the Mor Sobore Afroth Jacobite Syrian Cathedral (Akaparambu Valiya Palli). As they wrapped up the brief interaction, the LDF candidate handed over an election pamphlet and posed for shutterbugs with a smile.

“We are seeking a third term for the Left Front government. The campaign has primarily focused on the overall development of the State, and Angamaly in particular,” Mr. Paul said as he walked towards the church cemetery where P.P. Thankachan, a Congress veteran and former Minister, was laid to rest.

“P.I. Paulose, my father, was a Congress MLA,” he said before offering floral tributes at the grave of Mr. Thankachan. “Angamaly requires a new development paradigm,” he said. “The traffic snarls will not be fully resolved even after the commissioning of the Kalady bridge, as further steps need to be taken to address the issue. If elected, I plan to set up two MLA offices, one in Angamaly and the other in Kalady,” he added, while highlighting the need to address the concerns of the expanding electorate.

Promy Kuriakose, National Democratic Alliance candidate in Angamaly, at the KSRTC bus terminal complex. 
| Photo Credit:
G. Krishnakumar 

At the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus terminal complex in Angamaly, a white SUV that stopped by an eatery on the ground floor caught the attention of a few commuters. Promy Kuriakose, a television personality and candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), paused to greet a friend waiting at a nearby bus stop before getting out of the vehicle. “Please tell everyone that I may need the support of all,” he told his acquaintance. “Voters are fed up with both the United and Left fronts and yearn for a change,” he claimed.

A representative of Twenty20, Mr. Kuriakose alleged that Angamaly lacked development in various sectors, including infrastructure and tourism. “The Left government has failed to implement various development and welfare projects rolled out by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre,” he alleged.

With only a few hours left before the end of public campaign, candidates are pulling out all the stops in the battle for the Angamaly Assembly constituency. Though fortunes have shifted among the key fronts, the UDF has enjoyed an edge over the LDF in the electoral race over the past five-and-a-half decades.