Kerala Assembly poll: Deciphering the Malabar mandate

North Kerala, covering seven districts from Kasaragod to Thrissur, may have changed its electoral map in the 2026 Assembly polls; The Malabar wave not only unseated a government but also effectively rewrote the rules of future political participation in the State.

This 73-seat belt, once the engine room of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front’s victory in 2021, has turned into the launching pad for the resurgence of the Congress-led United Democratic Front, shaking the foundations of Left politics. Five years ago, LDF had 50 seats in this district. That number is now down to a dozen.