KOCHI: As electioneering nears a crescendo, Kochi, Tripunithura, Vypeen and Kalamassery have emerged as key battlegrounds in Ernakulam district. Though the performance in the 2025 local body elections gives the UDF confidence of retaining its seats, community equations and increasing BJP votes remain a concern for the front. For the LDF, however, the aim is to increase its share of seats in the UDF bastion.
In the 2021 assembly elections, the Congress-led UDF secured nine seats in the district, while the CPM-led LDF won five — Kochi, Vypeen, Kunnathunad, Kothamangalam and Kalamassery. The constituencies of Ernakulam, Angamaly, Aluva, and Thrikkakara remain a stronghold of the UDF, and the party has fielded sitting MLAs to retain the seats.
With senior Congress leader and MLA K Babu opting out of electoral politics, Tripunithura is set for a close contest. Babu has made way for the deputy mayor of Kochi, Deepak Joy, who is taking on K N Unnikrishnan, the Vypeen MLA.
“The LDF has traditional political votes in Tripunithura. Babu had a personal influence over the voters here. His retirement and BJP’s significant vote share in the constituency make the contest tough for both fronts,” said a CPM leader in Ernakulam.
A crucial aspect, however, is that the NDA has given the seat to the Twenty20 party. In 2021, the presence of the Twenty20 caused the UDF significant damage. As it has joined the NDA, the UDF harbours high hopes in Kunnathunad too.
“The UDF will be able to increase the number of seats to 10 or 12. We lost Kunnathunad and Kochi in 2021 as the Twenty20 secured more votes. Twenty20’s chances in these constituencies are now low,” a Congress leader said.
In Kunnathunad, CPM’s sitting MLA P V Sreenijin and UDF’s V P Sajeendran are in the fray, while the Twenty20 has fielded Babu Divakaran, a former DCC secretary.
Adding a new dimension to the contest in Kochi, the Congress has even changed its conventional practice by fielding a Muslim candidate there and a Latin Catholic candidate in Vypeen for the first time since the formation of the constituencies. In Kochi, the contest is between CPM’s K J Maxy and Ernakulam DCC president Mohammed Shiyas. But, for the UDF, the voting pattern remains a challenge, with the party leaders accepting that a Latin Catholic has an upper hand in the constituency. Shiyas was fielded in a bid to consolidate Muslim votes.
M Anilkumar, a CPM state committee member, expressed confidence of increasing LDF votes in the Ernakulam and Kochi constituencies. “We have a strong candidate (Sabu George) in Ernakulam. We expect to increase the vote share in the constituency. Maxy’s work has helped him create a good reputation,” he said.
Vypeen has traditionally remained with the CPM. Unnikrishnan was replaced by a young leader, M B Shiny. “Fielding Tony Chammany is an experiment for the UDF, entrusting him with the task of securing a substantial number of votes to win the seat. There is a significant Christian population too. In the past three elections, the Congress had fielded an Ezhava candidate,” added the Congress leader.
In Kalamassery, the fight is between P Rajeeve and V E Abdul Gafoor, of the IUML. When the two faced off last time, Rajeeve was elected to the assembly and went on to become the industries minister.