Kerala Assembly Elections 2026 | Indecision on controversial seats continues as Congress releases first list

Prominent leaders like opposition leader V D Satheesan, his predecessor Ramesh Chennithala and KPCC president Sunny Joseph are allotted their sitting seats.

Even as the Congress on Tuesday (March 17) announced the first set of 55 candidates for the Kerala Assembly Elections 2026 on Tuesday, suspense continues as candidates are yet to be announced for some seats in which sitting MPs are showing interest.

Prominent leaders like opposition leader V D Satheesan, his predecessor Ramesh Chennithala and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph are allotted their sitting seats - Paravur near Kochi, Harippad in Alappuzha and Peravoor in Kannur respectively.

Almost all sitting MLAs were allotted their sitting seats. In the 2021 Assembly election Congress had contested in 93 seats. Hence around 40 more candidates will have to be announced.

Candidate for Kannur seat for which sitting MP K Sudhakaran is staking claim is yet to be announced. Similarly, candidates for Alappuzha, which was earlier represented by AICC general secretary K C Venugopal,  is also yet to be announced. Candidate for Konni seat in Pathanamthitta, which was represented by Congress MP Adoor Prakash for four times in a row earlier, is also yet to be announced.

While AICC and Kerala PCC leadership had earlier arrived at a consensus that sitting MPs need to keep off from the fray, Kannur MP K Sudhakaran has been openly insisting on contesting from Kannur. Poster campaigns backing Sudhakaran have appeared in the district.

Actor and stand-up comedian Rameh Pisharody is given the Palakkad seat as sitting MLA Rahul Mamkootathil was recently expelled from Congress following sexual assault cases against him. 

Palakkad in one seat in which the BJP is pinning high hopes of making it to the Assembly and have fielded firebrand leader Sobha Surendran. Even as CPI(M) is yet to announce the candidate for Palakkad, a hotelier from the district is reportedly being considered as party-backed independent candidate.

Candidate for Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram from where BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar is seeking mandate is also yet to be announced. 

Former chief minister K Karunakaran's son K Muraleedharan has been fielded at Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram from where first woman IPS officer from Kerala R Sreelekha is seeking mandate.

Candidate for Perumbavoor Assembly seat near Kochi is also not yet announced amidst reports that sitting MLA Eldose Kunnappilly may be denied the seat as a sexual assault case is pending against him,

A Suresh, who was a close aide of former chief minister and legendary CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, has been fielded by the Congress at Malampuzha, a seat that was represented by the latter for 20 years, including his term as Chief Minister.

Suresh was expelled by the CPI (M) in 2012 accusing him of leaking confidential party documents to the media.

Former three-time CPM MLA of Kottarakara in Kollam P Aisha Potti, who recently joined the Congress, has been fielded at Kottarakkara to take on finance minister K N Balagopal in his sitting seat.