Kerala elections 2026: Pinarayi Vijayan trails behind BJP, Congress rivals in Dharmadam. Hat-trick third win unlikely?

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is battling for the Dharmadam Assembly constituency as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate. He is facing K Ranjith of the BJP and VP Abdul Rasheed of the Congress in a three-cornered contest. Vijayan was seen trailing by a mere 647 votes behind Congress' Rasheed, while K Ranjith was in third position with 6,295 votes, lagging by 26,807. Pinarayi Vijayan is contesting the Kerala elections 2026. (PTI)An incumbent since May 25, 2016, Vijayan led the Left Democratic Front to a historic re-election in 2021, breaking Kerala’s long-standing pattern of alternating governments. A staunch critic of the BJP, Vijayan continues to position the Left as the principal ideological counter to the RSS. Born in 1944 in Pinarayi in Kannur district, Pinarayi Vijayan rose through student politics before joining the CPI(M) in 1964. He was arrested during The Emergency in India. Vijayan later served as Kerala’s electricity minister from 1996 to 1998 and went on to hold the post of CPI(M) Kerala state secretary for 17 years. He then became a member of the party’s top decision-making body, the Polit Bureau, in 2002. The Dharmadam Assembly constituency has remained a stronghold of the CPI(M), represented by Pinarayi Vijayan since 2016. He has secured comfortable victories from the seat, including a margin of over 50,000 votes in 2021. Seeking a third consecutive win, the contest is about the Left Democratic Front’s push for continuity in power. K Ranjith is the BJP candidate from the Dharmadam (General) Assembly constituency in the 2026 Kerala polls. The 58-year-old leader is the state secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala, as per his Facebook account. VP Abdul Rasheed is the Congress candidate from the Dharmadam Assembly constituency in the 2026 Kerala elections. A 36-year-old graduate professional, he holds a BA LLB from Kannur University (2018) and is a lawyer. He is the son of Hamsa K K and is enrolled as a voter in the Payyannur constituency. His spouse is a doctor. Kerala Assembly election campaigning ended with the Left Democratic Front, United Democratic Front, and BJP accusing each other of being a “B-team” or having secret understandings. Rahul Gandhi earlier alleged an LDF-BJP deal and called CM Pinarayi Vijayan a “right-wing puppet,” while LDF leaders accused Congress of similar ties with the BJP. Modi, in contrast, claimed LDF and UDF share a secret partnership. Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered.Read More