Thiruvananthapuram, May 4 -- Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan retained the Dharmadam Assembly seat after staging a strong comeback from early setbacks in a closely fought contest, even as the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) suffered a massive electoral blow in the 2026 Assembly polls with 13 ministers defeated.
According to official results, Vijayan secured 85,614 votes, defeating United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate V. P. Abdul Rasheed, who polled 66,367 votes.
Vijayan won by a margin of 19,247 votes, while NDA candidate K. Ranjith secured 18,555 votes.
The Chief Minister had initially trailed in the early rounds but steadily gained ground as counting progressed to clinch victory.
Despite Vijayan's win in Dharmadam, the...