2019 Kerala Legislative Assembly by-elections


Six assembly by-elections were held on 23 September and 21 October 2019, to the six vacant seats in the Kerala Niyamasabha which consists of 140 constituencies in total.
By-election took place in two phases. The first phase was conducted on 23 September for Pala Constituency.
The remaining 5 assembly constituencies voted to elect their representatives on 21 October.
The counting of votes was conducted on 27 September in Pala and on 24 October in the other five constituencies.

Schedule for the by-elections

Pala

The first phase by-election was held for the Pala Constituency in Kerala.
By-Election EventDayDate
Election DeclarationSunday25/08/2019
Issue of Gazette NotificationWednesday28/08/2019
Last date of filing NominationWednesday04/09/2019
Scrutiny of NominationsThursday05/09/2019
Last date of withdrawal of candidaturesSaturday07/09/2019
PollingMonday23/09/2019
Counting of votesFriday27/09/2019

Manjeshwaram, Ernakulam, Aroor, Konni and Vattiyoorkavu

The second phase by-elections were held for the remaining 5 vacant assembly constituencies in Kerala.
By-Election EventDayDate
Election DeclarationSaturday21/09/2019
Issue of Gazette NotificationMonday23/09/2019
Last date of filing NominationMonday30/09/2019
Scrutiny of NominationsTuesday01/10/2019
Last date of withdrawal of candidaturesThursday03/10/2019
PollingMonday21/10/2019
Counting of votesThursday24/10/2019

Electorates

There were 11,36,616 electorates from the 6 niyamasabha constituencies where the by-elections were held. Constituency wise details are given below:
NumberConstituencyElectorates
1Manjeshwar2,14,779
82Ernakulam1,55,306
93Pala1,79,107
102Aroor1,91,898
114Konni1,97,956
133Vattiyoorkavu1,97,570

Alliances and parties

There are two major political coalitions in Kerala. The United Democratic Front is the coalition of centrist and center-left parties led by the Indian National Congress. The Left Democratic Front is the coalition of left-wing and far-left parties, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Left Democratic Front (Kerala)

They are a coalition of left-wing political parties in Kerala. It is one of the two major political coalitions in the state, the other being the UDF, both of which has been in power alternatively for the last two decades. After winning a majority of the seats in the Niyamasabha elections, they are currently in power. The coalition consists of CPI(M), CPI and a variety of other smaller parties. LDF fields four CPI candidates, an NCP candidate and an independent to fight in the by-poll.
No.PartyFlagSymbolPhotoLeaderSeats contestedMaleFemale
1.Communist Party of India (Marxist)Kodiyeri BalakrishnanManjeshwaram Aroor, Konni, Vattiyoorkavu40
2.Nationalist Congress PartyPala10
3.LDF IndependentA. VijayaraghavanErnakulam10

United Democratic Front (Kerala)

It is an alliance of central-wing political parties in the state, created by the prominent INC party leader K. Karunakaran in the 1970s. UDF fielded four INC candidates, an IUML candidate and an independent for the vacant constituencies.
No.PartyFlagSymbolPhotoLeaderSeats contestedMaleFemale
1.Indian National CongressMullappally RamachandranErnakulam, Aroor, Konni Vattiyoorkavu31
2.Indian Union Muslim LeagueSayed Hyderali Shihab ThangalManjeshwar10
3.UDF IndependentBenny BehananPala10

National Democratic Alliance

It is a coalition of right-leaning political parties in India. NDA gave all the six seats for the BJP to contest.
No.PartyFlagSymbolPhotoLeaderSeats contestedMaleFemale
1.Bharatiya Janata PartyP. S Sreedharan PillaiManjeshwar, Ernakulam, Pala, Aroor, Konni Vattiyoorkavu60

Constituency-wise Candidates

The LDF fielded four CPI(M) candidates, an NCP candidate and an independent to win the seats. UDF fielded four INC candidates, an IUML candidate and an independent. NDA fielded six BJP candidates.

Exit Polls

The Manorama News and the Mathrubhumi News published their exit poll predictions in the constituencies where the election was held on 21 October 2019. Asianet News had published their exit poll predictions for Pala, where the election was held earlier.

Polling day

Polling took place on 23 September 2019 in Pala and on 21 October 2019 in the remaining five Niyamasabha constituencies.
NumberConstituencyPolling%
1Manjeshwar75.78
82Ernakulam57.90
93Pala70.97
102Aroor80.47
114Konni70.07
133Vattiyoorkavu62.66

Results in a glance

The results at a glance are given below:

By alliance

Both the LDF and the UDF won three seats each. The NDA could not win any seats.

Party-wise

Each of the CPI(M) and the INC won in two seats. The remaining two seats were bagged by the NCP and the IUML respectively.

Detailed results

List of the newly elected MLAs to the 14th Kerala Niyamasabha

As a result of the 2019 Kerala Legislative Assembly by-elections, six new members were elected to the Kerala Niyamasabha.

Assembly seat share post by-elections

After the 2019 Kerala Legislative Assembly by-elections, the composition of 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly changed as per given below:
UDFLDFNDA
45932

The Kerala Niyamasabha is composed of 141 seats. After the by-elections, the Government of Kerala has the support of 93 members.
Total
Government
Opposition