Seats That Defied Kerala’s Political Swings
We go through the data of last nine state Assembly elections to identify the stronghold constituencies of LDF and UDF – seats that stayed loyal to an alliance, in the state that altered governments in every polls from 1982 to 2016.
19 March 2026
Scroll as we go backwards from the last state Assembly polls in 2021.
When the incumbent Left Democratic Front (LDF) swept the Kerala Assembly polls in 2021, it defied the state’s four-decade-old pattern of power alternation, under which the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had flipped power in every election since 1982.
(Hover over individual constituencies on the map to see more details about the winning party and alliance for that specific seat.)
The election saw an overwhelming majority of seats reelecting the incumbent alliance.
115 seats (non-faded in the map visualisation) or over 82 % of Kerala's total 140 Assembly seats voted for the same alliance in the 2016 and 2021 polls. In other words, just 25 seats (faded in the map visualisation) voted for a change from 2016 to 2021.
Among those 115 seats, LDF reclaimed 83 seats, enabling it to halt Kerala's political pendulum of last eight elections. Whereas UDF could register win in just 32 of these seats – most of which were clustered in pockets of Malappuram, Palakkad, Ernakulam, and Kottayam.
Our analysis has accounted for the changing alliances of political parties in each Assembly election.
Going back further to 2011 state elections show 27 fewer seats that voted for the same alliance. Still 63 % of all seats (or 88 seats) elected the same alliance in the last three Assembly polls – 2011, 2016, and 2021.
59 of these seats were loyal to LDF and 29 seats stuck with UDF.
Now, we change the map as the delimitation in 2008 changed the borders and composition of state's Assembly constituencies.
Here we look at the 26 constituencies that resisted Kerala's alternation pattern between 1982 to 2006. Sixteen of these seats were consecutively won by LDF and 10 were fortresses of UDF.
LDF's Loyal Seats in Kerala (1982-2006)
(Tap on the below seats to know their details)
Trikkarpur / Thrikaripur
CPI(M) has been the undisputed winner from this seat ever since the constituency was carved out in the 1976 delimitation, replacing the previous Nileshwaram constituency. The only Assembly polls when Left could not win from here was the 1960 elections. This was a controversial election, conducted after Congress government at the Centre dismissed the democratically elected Left government in Kerala – which was the first non-Congress state government in the country. Incidentally, India's first non-Congress chief minister, EMS Namboodiripad, was the first winner from this seat in 1957, which was also Kerala's first Assembly election after the state's formation in 1956.
Payyanur
CPI(M) has never lost this seat since the beginning i.e. 1967.
Taliparamba
This seat has been a CPI bastion since its inception in 1967. The only instance when the Communists lost this Assembly seat was in 1970, when Congress' CP Govindan Nambiar defeated CPI's incumbent KPR Poduval with a margin of less than a thousand votes.
Edakkad
LDF had an unwavering hold over this constituency, which is now defunct after the 2008 delimitation. The Left allies had won all the Assembly elections from this seat, except that in the 1970 polls when Congress had won from here.
Thalassery / Tellicherry
LDF has had an absolute hold over this seat since Kerala's first Assembly polls in 1957.
Kuthuparamba
Before the 2008 delimitation, this seat had voted for an LDF candidate, without a break, from 1970 to 2006. Leaders like Pinarayi Vijayan and KK Shailaja have been elected from this seat in the past.
Vadakara / Badagara
This seat has been consistently returning the candidates LDF since 1977.
Nadapuram
The constituency has had a stronghold of CPI since the first Kerala Assembly elections in 1957. The only state polls where CPI lost from Nadapuram was the 1960 elections when the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had won from here.
Meppayur
Except for the 1970 and 1977 Assembly elections, when IUML had won from here, Meppayur has been LDF's stronghold. The constituency got defunct in the 2008 delimitation.
Balussery / Balusseri
LDF parties have an unbreakable streak of win from this Assembly seat since 1982.
Beypore
This constituency has been an LDF bastion since its formation in 1967. The lone election when the Left front lost from here was in 1977 Assembly polls.
Malampuzha
It's a sure-shot seat of CPI(M). They have never lost an Assembly election from here. This has also been the seat from where former Kerala chief ministers EK Nayanar and VS Achuthanandan reached the state Assembly.
Coyalmannam
The constituency existed from 1977 to 2006, during that period CPI(M) was undefeatable from here.
Cherpu
During the existence of this constituency between 1977 to 2006, it has only elected candidates from CPI.
Kilimanoor
Since this constituency was formed in 1965, till it was decommissioned in 2006, it elected an LDF representative. The 1965 and 1967 Assembly elections from this seat were won by CPI(M) and from 1970 onwards it had purely been a CPI seat.
Vamanapuram
This seat has been a CPI(M) fortress since its inception in 1967. The only time when it lost Vamanapuram was in 1970, when Congress registered a marginal win with about 1800 votes.
UDF's Strongholds in Kerala (1982-2006)
Irikkur
While Left parties were undefeatable from this seat in the first four Assembly polls from 1957 to 1977, Congress hasn't lost this seat since 1977. KC Joseph won this seat for a record eight consecutive terms from 1982 to 2016.
Kannur / Cannanore
The seat was a Congress bastion from 1987 to 2011. In the 1982 elections, it was won by the Independent candidate P Bhaskaran with the support from the Congress.
Manjeri
This seat in Malappuram district has been a fortress of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). The UDF ally hasn't lost from here since 1967. Before that, the Congress had won from here in 1957 and 1960.
Malappuram
No party has been able to defeat IUML from this seat since the first election in 1957. It must be noted that IUML candidate in the 1957 polls, K. Hassan Gani, contested as an Independent.
Kondotty
This is another Assembly seat from the Malappuram district that has been undisputedly won by IUML since the first Kerala state polls in 1957.
Tirurangadi
Again, this is a seat from Malappuram district that has always elected an IUML candidate. Congress' AK Antony briefly represented this constituency after a 1995 bypoll, when he was called from Rajya Sabha to take over the state's chief ministership from K Karunakaran.
Tanur
This is the fifth Malappuram seat that has had a total monopoly of IUML since the first elections.
Changanassery / Changanacherry
This seat has been consecutively won by UDF allies since 1970 – by Kerala Congress from 1970 to 1982 and then by Kerala Congress (Mani) from 1991 onwards. CF Thomas won a record nine back-to-back elections from here from 1980 to 2016.
Puthupally
This seat has been loyal to Congress, or more aptly, Congress leader Oommen Chandy. No one had been able to defeat Chandy from Puthupally in the 12 consecutive elections from 1970 onwards. Since 1957, Congress has lost just one Assembly poll from this constituency – in 1967 to CPI(M). Currently, Puthupally is represented by Oommen Chandy's son Chandy Oommen.
Pala / Palai
It has been a sure-shot UDF seat since it was formed in 1967. Pala was the bastion of Kerala Congress (Mani) founder KM Mani, who remains the longest-serving member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, having continuously represented the Pala constituency from its inception in 1967 until his death in 2019. Currently, this seat is held by Kerala Democratic Party.