<p>Peravoor on the suburbs of Kannur has been generally considered as a stronghold of the Congress as Congress candidates won in almost all elections, except in 2006 when CPI(M) senior leader and former health minister K K Shailaja won. </p><p>But in 2011 Congress leader Sunny Joseph defeated Shailaja by 3440 votes. Though Joseph could improve his margin to 7,989 in 2016, his margin again went down to 3.172 in 2021. </p>.Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: LDF’s K K Shailaja vs UDF’s Sunny Joseph makes Peravoor a key political battleground.<p>This time CPI(M) has fielded Shailaja again in the constituency. It triggered allegations that the party leadership was trying to sideline Shailaja by denying her sitting seat Mattanur in Kannur from where she won with a record margin of 60,963 votes in 2021 election, especially in the wake of the popularity she earned as health minister in the previous Pinarayi Vijayan led government. Since Joseph is now serving as the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, if he got defeated it could be very embarrassing for the Congress.</p><p><br><strong>Candidate's profile:</strong> <br></p><p><strong>LDF: </strong>K K Shailaja is now a central committee member of the CPI(M). She shot to fame during her term as health minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government from 2016 to 2021 as she effectively led the state health sector during Nipah and Covid-19 outbreaks. She even received international honours and was even considered as a probable Chief Minister candidate in the 2021 elections. Even as she was selected for the Ramon Magsaysay Award she declined it citing that the fight against Covid and Nipah were team efforts only. The CPI(M) stated that anti-communist stand of former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay was also a reason for declining the offer.</p><p><strong>UDF: </strong>Sunny Joseph, who took over as KPCC chief in 2025 May, is having a clean image. He is also often considered as a well studied MLA and actively took part in crucial debates in the Assembly. He was also generally considered as politician who do not go for posts. A lawyer by profession, communal equations of Peravoor is also an advantage for Joseph.</p><p><br><strong>NDA:</strong> Paily Vathyatt of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) is contesting as NDA candidate. NDA got only thin presence in the constituency with vote share of 6.4 per cent only in 2021 elections. Even then Vathyatt, who is state vice-president of BDJS, has been trying his best to improve NDA's vote share.</p>
<p>Peravoor on the suburbs of Kannur has been generally considered as a stronghold of the Congress as Congress candidates won in almost all elections, except in 2006 when CPI(M) senior leader and former health minister K K Shailaja won. </p><p>But in 2011 Congress leader Sunny Joseph defeated Shailaja by 3440 votes. Though Joseph could improve his margin to 7,989 in 2016, his margin again went down to 3.172 in 2021. </p>.Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: LDF’s K K Shailaja vs UDF’s Sunny Joseph makes Peravoor a key political battleground.<p>This time CPI(M) has fielded Shailaja again in the constituency. It triggered allegations that the party leadership was trying to sideline Shailaja by denying her sitting seat Mattanur in Kannur from where she won with a record margin of 60,963 votes in 2021 election, especially in the wake of the popularity she earned as health minister in the previous Pinarayi Vijayan led government. Since Joseph is now serving as the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, if he got defeated it could be very embarrassing for the Congress.</p><p><br><strong>Candidate's profile:</strong> <br></p><p><strong>LDF: </strong>K K Shailaja is now a central committee member of the CPI(M). She shot to fame during her term as health minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government from 2016 to 2021 as she effectively led the state health sector during Nipah and Covid-19 outbreaks. She even received international honours and was even considered as a probable Chief Minister candidate in the 2021 elections. Even as she was selected for the Ramon Magsaysay Award she declined it citing that the fight against Covid and Nipah were team efforts only. The CPI(M) stated that anti-communist stand of former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay was also a reason for declining the offer.</p><p><strong>UDF: </strong>Sunny Joseph, who took over as KPCC chief in 2025 May, is having a clean image. He is also often considered as a well studied MLA and actively took part in crucial debates in the Assembly. He was also generally considered as politician who do not go for posts. A lawyer by profession, communal equations of Peravoor is also an advantage for Joseph.</p><p><br><strong>NDA:</strong> Paily Vathyatt of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) is contesting as NDA candidate. NDA got only thin presence in the constituency with vote share of 6.4 per cent only in 2021 elections. Even then Vathyatt, who is state vice-president of BDJS, has been trying his best to improve NDA's vote share.</p>