Thiruvananthapuram, March 18
The Indian Union Muslim League on Tuesday officially released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections, featuring a major shift for senior leader PK Kunhalikutty, who will contest from the Malappuram constituency.
The Indian Union Muslim League has announced its candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. PK Kunhalikutty will contest from Malappuram instead of Vengara. In Vengara, KM Shaji will be the party's candidate. Other candidates announced are: Faisal Babu - Kozhikode South, Fathima Tehliyya - Perambra, Jayanthi Rajan - Kuthuparamba Razaq Master - Kunnamangalam Rahmathulla - Manjeri, Anwar Naha - Tirurangadi.
Meanwhile, the 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, the Election Commission of India announced on Sunday, with the counting of votes scheduled to take place on May 4.
The Model Code of Conduct came into place on Sunday, setting in process elections to the 140-member State Assembly, also known as Kerala Niyamasabha.
The tenure of the current assembly is scheduled to end on May 23, 2026.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said in a press conference said "Voting will be held across 2.19 lakh polling stations in four states and one UT, with 25 lakh election officials on duty."
CEC Kumar said that around 2.7 crore electors are expected to participate in the elections in Kerala.
The last date for filing nominations is March 23, with scrutiny of nominations on March 24 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures on March 26.
Following the completion ennumeration excercise of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state electoral roll, the ECI released Kerala's final voter list on February 21.
The Kerala CEO further mentioned that around 53,229 individuals have been deleted from the voters' list. The process of SIR was conducted from November 11, 2025, to January 30, 2026.
The elections also highlighted Kerala's traditionally high voter participation, with turnout in many constituencies exceeding 80 per cent. In constituencies such as Kuttiadi and Taliparamba, turnout figures crossed the 85 per cent mark.
Earlier, ahead of the upcoming Kerala assembly elections, United Democratic Front ally Indian Union Muslim League planned to raise the demand for more seats within the alliance, based on the party's recent performance in the state civic polls.
On January 3, IUML president Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal confirmed that his party will seek more seats in the upcoming Assembly elections. He stated that IUML will contest in its existing constituencies and that candidates will be announced at an early stage, with women to be given priority.
"The Indian Union Muslim League will seek a higher number of seats in the upcoming Assembly elections. The exact number of seats to be demanded has not yet been finalised. The League will contest in its existing constituencies, and candidates will be announced at an early stage. Women will be given priority in the candidate list... Seat-sharing decisions will be made purely based on winning prospects. The Muslim League has no political alliance with the Welfare Party of India," the IUML chief told ANI.
- ANI
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