Assembly Election 2026: UDF-Backed Independent And CPM Rebel Kunjikrishnan Wins From Payyannur By 7,487 Votes
Polling in Payyanur Assembly constituency was held on April 9 and there are 1,87,914 registered voters.
Published : May 4, 2026 at 3:00 AM IST
|Updated : May 4, 2026 at 5:27 PM IST
Payyanur: CPM rebel leader and UDF-backed independent V Kunjikrishnan has won from Payyannur constituency in Kannur district in Kerala with a margin of over 7,487 votes. He got a total of 76,640 votes. CPM leader Madhusoodanan finished second with 69,153 votes.
Payyanur is in Kannur district and a part of Kasargod Lok Sabha constituency. The sitting MLA is T I Madusoodhanan of CPM.
Scheduled Castes form 5.61 percent of the constituency’s population. The voter roll here lists 1,87,914 electors, including 90,406 male and 97,505 female. The constituency has a literacy rate of 95.41 percent (Census of India, 2011). The Payyanur Assembly constituency has been traditionally a stronghold of the Left Front.
In the last election held in 2021, T I Madhusoodanan of CPM won the Assembly seat, defeating M Pradeep Kumar of Congress by 49,780 votes — equivalent to a 33.35 percent margin.
In 2016, CPM candidate C Krishnan won and became MLA from this seat. He secured a total of 83,226 votes. Congress candidate Sajid Mavval stood second with a total of 42,963 votes. He lost by 40,263 votes.
This year, for the LDF, CPM candidate T I Madhusoodanan is in the field while for UDF V Kunhikrishnan is contesting as an independent. BJP has fielded A P Gangadharan.
Kunhikrishnan had earlier levelled allegations of misappropriation of party funds against Madusoodhanan. In his campaigning, Kunhikrishnan said his fight is against corruption and not Left.
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