NEW DELHI: In Kerala’s Alappuzha, UDF’s AD Thomas received 81,065 votes, defeating LDF’s PP Chitharanjan by 21,015 votes. PP Chitharanjan got 60,050 votes. There were a total of 189720 registered voters on the electoral rolls for the 2026 Assembly election in Alappuzha Assembly constituency, of whom 92534 were male, 97186 female and 0 belonged to the third gender.Exit polls released for the high-stakes Kerala battle indicate a competitive contest, with the incumbent LDF government seeking a third consecutive term amid a strong challenge from the UDF.Alappuzha Assembly constituency, numbered 104, is situated in Alappuzha district of Kerala and falls under the Alappuzha parliamentary constituency. Established in 1957 and redefined in the 2008 delimitation, it encompasses Alappuzha Municipality along with panchayats like Ambalappuzha, Purakkad, and coastal areas near the Vembanad Lake, serving around 185,000 electors. This general urban seat thrives on fishing fleets, coir industries, houseboat tourism, paddy cultivation, and salt production amid iconic backwaters, canals, and beaches, blending maritime commerce with cultural vibrancy as Kerala’s “Venice of the East.“CPI(M) of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) reclaimed dominance in 2021 with AM Ariff as current MLA (previously Aroor MLA; shifted post-delimitation adjustments). He won with 62,407 votes (45.82 per cent), defeating Congress’s Shanimol Usman (57,320 votes) by 5,087 votes (3.73 per cent) at 78.65 per cent turnout — narrowly reversing UDF’s 2016 hold under the same Shanimol (8,640 margin). LDF’s fisher-labor unions edge out UDF’s traditional sway and BJP’s 6-8 per cent share in this bellwether.Key issues include relentless coastal erosion and sea incursion, backwater flooding from poor drainage and climate change, fish stock crashes amid pollution, coir worker unemployment from imports, tourism slumps post-pandemic, waste choking waterways, road congestion during festivals, and demands for modern harbours, seafood parks, mangrove restoration, and resilient infrastructure. These water-centric woes sustain fierce LDF-UDF duels in Alappuzha’s poetic heartland.
