Kerala Assembly polls 2026: All major fronts hopeful of a win in Nemom

The 2026 Kerala Assembly polls in Nemom feature a competitive three-way battle among major political fronts for victory.

Nemom is a sort of gateway to the Thiruvananthapuram city for those entering Kerala’s capital from the Kanniyakumari side. For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the constituency became a gateway to the Kerala Assembly when O. Rajagopal won from here in 2016. But, five years later, the gateway would be closed for the party with V. Sivankutty of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] reclaiming the constituency which he had won comfortably in 2011.

This year, Mr. Sivankutty is again back in the fray, in a constituency which has attracted attention from across the country due to the massive push that the BJP has been making, with its State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar leading the charge. K.S. Sabarinadhan, former Congress MLA from Aruvikkara and now a councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, is putting up a stiff fight to reclaim a constituency which the Congress has not won after the delimitation of 2008.

As his open jeep, followed by a bike rally of CPI(M) workers, moves through a narrow pathway amid a residential area near the Nemom junction with densely-packed houses, Mr. Sivankutty waves to many of the onlookers with easy familiarity. This grassroot connect, earned from years of ground-level interactions as a party worker, panchayat president, Corporation Mayor and MLA has been his USP in recent elections. In a conversation with The Hindu amid the hectic campaigning, he contrasts his background with the corporate past of Mr. Chandrasekhar.

“All my life I have worked to address the myriad issues faced by the people. I think this election might be easier compared to the previous time. My campaign is focussing on the welfare and developmental efforts taken up by the government, including the ₹900-crore developmental works I implemented in this constituency. My performance as a Minister handling general education and labour has also won appreciation from the people here,” says Mr. Sivankutty.

NDA candidate from the Nemom Assembly constituency Rajeev Chandrasekhar interacting with people during a campaign on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Much of Mr. Chandrasekhar’s campaign management is anchored from the ‘Vikasita Nemom HQ,’ a three-storied building with plush interiors, near Kaimanam, where a bevy of party workers are involved in a whole lot of online and offline campaign planning operations. The candidate, who also has the responsibility of overseeing the party’s campaign across the State, drops in at the campaign office every day amid his hectic schedule to ensure everything is on track.