As many as 13 ministers of Kerala’s Left Democratic Front government were defeated in the 2026 assembly election. In the sweeping victory for the Congress-led United Democratic Front, ministers holding key posts in the previous LDF government, including Veena George (Health & Woman and Child Welfare), MB Rajesh (Local Self Government & Excise), and P Rajeev (Industries & Law), lost the election.
The LDF, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), won only 35 of the 140 assembly seats, five years after its historic re-election in the state. Even Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan trailed the UDF candidate VP Abdul Rasheed for several rounds before regaining his lead in Dharmadom, a constituency he had last won with a margin of over 50,000 votes. This time, his margin fell to less than 20,000 votes.
Apart from the chief minister, those who retained their seats among the council of ministers are KN Balagopal (Finance), PA Mohammed Riyas (Public Works Department & Tourism), K Rajan (Revenue), Saji Cherian (Fisheries, Culture & Youth Affairs), P Prasad (Agriculture), and GR Anil (Food & Civil Supplies).
Veena George, a two-time legislator from Aranmula, lost to Youth Congress leader Abin Varkey by 18,985 votes. Her ten years in the assembly, and especially the last five as health minister, were marked by a series of controversies. Her foray into politics from journalism, and her later replacement of KK Shailaja as health minister, had both been viewed with a certain amount of cynicism and mistrust. From criticism over medical negligence to rows over an alleged attack on her in February, Veena remained in the headlines for much of the last five years. In an interview with TNM before the election, she said that she was targeted by sections of the media.
Two other ministers who were closely watched in the last five years were MB Rajesh and P Rajeev, for some of the notable projects they led from their respective departments. The LSG department’s Digi Keralam campaign to make the state digitally literate, and the extreme poverty eradication programme, were among the key projects highlighted by the LDF. P Rajeev is credited with the state’s top position in ease of doing business, and with changing the perception that Kerala was unfriendly to entrepreneurs.
However, Rajesh lost by 8,385 votes, and Rajeev by over 16,000 votes.
Other LDF ministers who faced defeat are V Sivankutty (Labour, General Education), R Bindu (Higher Education, Social Welfare), KB Ganesh Kumar (Transport), OR Kelu (SC/ST Welfare), J Chinchurani (Animal Husbandry), AK Saseendran (Forests and Wild Life protection), VN Vasavan (Cooperation and Ports), V Abdurahiman (Sports, Wakf and Haj Pilgrimage), Roshy Augustine (Water), and Kadannappally Ramachandran (Museums).
Shocking setbacks for the LDF also occurred in the defeats of popular leaders such as KK Shailaja, VK Prasanth, KT Jaleel, and TP Ramakrishnan. Shailaja had won with an unprecedented margin of over 60,000 votes in the last Assembly election from Mattannoor. She was, however, fielded from the Peravoor constituency this time and lost to Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph by over 14,000 votes. VK Prasanth, once a popular Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram, had been the MLA of Vattiyoorkavu since 2019, but lost to Congress’ K Muraleedharan this year. KT Jaleel, former minister and MLA, lost by over 14,000 votes, and TP Ramakrishnan, the LDF convenor, by 5,000 votes.
LDF turncoats G Sudhakaran, V Kunhikrishnan, and TK Govindan won in Ambalapuzha, Payyannur, and Taliparamba respectively, with the backing of the UDF.