Thiruvananthapuram: In a major boost for the United Democratic Front (UDF) ahead of the Kerala elections, the Congress party wrested the Nilambur constituency from the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) by a margin of 11,000-plus votes in a high-stakes bypoll.
P.V.Anvar played spoilsport for CPI (M)’s M. Swaraj, as the Independent candidate secured nearly 20,000 votes.
Congress candidate Aryadan Shoukath secured 77,737 votes, followed by CPI (M)’s Swaraj with 66,660 votes. Anvar finished third with 19,760, while the NDA candidate, advocate Mohan George, secured 8,648 votes.
Though the UDF is considered to have an upper hand in this constituency, the win marks a significant comeback for the Congress as it expects nothing less than a return to power in Kerala, where it has been in opposition since 2016.
Considered a curtain-raiser for the upcoming local body polls and the assembly elections, the result hit the LDF hard as it was hoping for a hat-trick in the polls. The assembly elections are due in April-May next year.
We worked as a team, each one with commitment and single pointed focus, that is the most important lesson of this success.
Heartiest congratulations to Aryadan Shoukath whose dedication and service has shone through and to all the leaders and workers of the UDF whose efforts…
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 23, 2025
Reacting to the result, Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan said the verdict from Nilambur represented the sentiment of the entire state.
“The UDF had earlier said this election would be a referendum on Pinarayi Vijayan’s nine-year rule. We lost this seat last time by just over 2,000 votes. Now, we’ve won with a lead of nearly 12,000. This is a victory for team UDF. We may be a coalition of fronts, but we function as one political party. This result is proof that the UDF has become an alliance without internal discord,” he said at a press conference.
He added that the UDF intends to honour its word to the voters and expressed confidence that the front will come back to power in Kerala in the upcoming Assembly polls.
“We had promised the people of Nilambur that if they elect Shoukath, we will return like a storm in the next assembly elections. We will act true to that promise,” Satheesan said.
Located in the northern Malappuram district, the Nilambur seat was represented by Shoukath’s father Aryadan Mohammed from 1987 to 2016. In 2016, the LDF fielded Anvar, who defeated Shoukath by 11,504 votes. That assembly elections also saw the birth of the first Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government, which won 91 of 140 seats in Kerala Assembly.
In 2021, Anvar was re-elected from the constituency, defeating Congress’s V.V. Prakash by 2,700 votes. That year also saw the LDF retain power with a historic 99 seats.
However, the MLA resigned from the seat after a fallout with the LDF leadership and declared an open war against Vijayan. Though he attempted to join the UDF fold, the move failed, prompting him to contest as an Independent in Nilambur.
Meanwhile, the CPI(M), which hadn’t fielded a candidate under its own symbol since the 2006 assembly polls, chose one of its most popular faces and party state secretariat member M. Swaraj.
The high-decibel campaign saw both the UDF and Anvar targeting the Pinarayi Vijayan government over issues such as man-animal conflict in the hilly region and the ongoing ASHA workers’ protest in the state. The LDF, in contrast, highlighted its developmental initiatives and its commitment to Kerala’s secularism, while attacking the UDF for accepting the support of Jamaat-e-Islami, which it accused of being a communal force.
Political analyst Joseph C. Mathew said the margin of over 10,000 votes is rare in Kerala and reflects a brewing anti-government sentiment.
“A lead of over 10,000 votes in a Kerala constituency is very rare. It reflects the strong anti-government sentiment prevailing in the state. There’s been a political consolidation that goes beyond individual candidates
“The votes secured by both Anvar and Shoukath represent anti-government sentiment, since both campaigned against the Pinarayi Vijayan government,” Mathew told ThePrint, adding that Anvar’s surprise vote share indicates that he drew support from both LDF and UDF camps, as Shoukath isn’t a widely popular face in Nilambur.
Saji Manjakadambil, a close aide of Anvar, said that the result shows that his side actually won this election.
“It showed that P.V. Anvar is powerful. He had worked so closely with the people as an MLA and now he got votes beyond politics, caste and religion. Now it’s clear whether Anvar contested against NOTA or Pinarayi Vijayan,” he told ThePrint, adding that Anvar’s camp would join the UDF if the latter is open to it, otherwise, they would continue working in politics regardless.
On their part, the Left leaders denied any anti-incumbency sentiment.
CPI(M) state secretary M.V. Govindan said that the UDF, which had secured 78,527 votes in 2021, saw its numbers drop to 77,057 this time, a sign of diminishing support.
“As far as the LDF is concerned, Nilambur is not included among the constituencies where we can politically contest and win. We were able to win earlier by securing some additional votes beyond our party’s base with an Independent candidate. Even the UDF secured its victory now with the support of communal forces,” Govindan said.
Swaraj said the LDF had focused its campaign on people’s issues, development, and matters that directly affected the public, while their opponents attempted to stir controversies.
The CPI(M) candidate, however, admitted it was unclear whether the LDF’s message had reached the voters and added that the party would analyse the results in the coming days. He maintained that the outcome could not be seen as a verdict against the LDF government.
“If we are to conclude that the result is against the state government, then we must also assume that people wanted power cuts and reduced pension amounts, which we had changed,” Swaraj said.
“We will analyse the election result closely in the coming days and examine whether there was any misunderstanding among the people. The politics we advocated was rooted in secularism and Kerala’s development, and we don’t believe there was anything wrong in that,” he added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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