The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the 2026 Kerala Assembly election, with polling set to take place on April 9 and counting of votes on May 4. The announcement formally sets the electoral process in motion in the state and brings the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) into immediate effect.
The dates were announced by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi in Delhi on Sunday, March 15.
According to the schedule released by the ECI, the election process will begin with the issue of the gazette notification on March 16. The last date for filing nominations will be March 23, while scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on March 24.
Candidates will be able to withdraw their nominations until March 26, after which the final list of contestants will be published. Polling will be held on April 9 across the state’s 140 Assembly constituencies, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4.
According to the ECI, Kerala has a total of 2.70 crore voters, including 1.31 crore male voters, 1.38 crore female voters and 277 transgender persons.
Across the five poll-bound states and Union Territory, the Election Commission will deploy nearly 25 lakh election officials for the conduct of the polls. This includes 15 lakh polling personnel, 8.5 lakh security officials, and 49,000 micro observers overseeing polling stations. Additionally, 1,444 observers, 40,000 counting officials, 21,000 sector officers, and 15,000 micro observers for counting will be deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of the election process.
With the MCC now in force, the Kerala government will be restricted from announcing new welfare schemes, financial grants or major policy decisions that could influence voters. The code also bars the use of official machinery for campaign purposes and requires political parties, candidates and government officials to strictly follow election guidelines until the completion of the polls.
The tenure of the current Kerala Legislative Assembly will end on May 23, 2026. Assembly elections are expected to be held before the term concludes so that a new House can be constituted without a governance gap.
In the 2021 Assembly election, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], retained its power in the state, securing 99 out of 140 Assembly seats. Among the 99 seats, the CPI(M) won 62, the Communist Party of India (CPI) secured 17, the Kerala Congress (M) won 5, and others obtained the remaining seats. Meanwhile, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 41 seats, where Congress managed to secure 21 seats, while the Indian National Muslim League (IUML) gained 15, along with others.
The LDF, which has been in power for the last 10 years, is facing strong anti-incumbency, with the Congress-led UDF looking at possibly reclaiming power. Congress’ hopes of a win were boosted after it did exceedingly well in the recent local body polls in the state.
At the same time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is also hopeful of winning seats in the Kerala Assembly, as it did not win any seats in the last term and only won one seat in the 2016 elections. In the local body elections, NDA managed to convincingly win a majority in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation for the first time in the history of Kerala.