CPM posts face-saving win in Pinarayi's Dharmadam assembly segment; retains Mattanur seat too

Kannur: The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) wrested the Bavode East ward in Peralassery grama panchayat, which falls under Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan’s Dharmadam constituency, from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the local-body by-election.

The victory became sweeter for the LDF as it retained the Uruvachal division in CPM-ruled Mattannur municipality, winning both local-body seats that went to by-elections in Kannur district.

By-elections were held in 38 local-body wards across Kerala on September 28, with the results declared on Tuesday, September 29.

For the CPM, the victory in Peralassery is significant because the UDF had made inroads into its traditional stronghold in the December 2025 local-body election. The UDF won four of the panchayat’s 19 wards: Pothuvacheri, Mundayod, Makreri and Bavode East. The LDF had usually lost only one or two seats in the panchayat.

The UDF’s gains in the CPM stronghold became a talking point in Dharmadam during the 2026 Assembly election. Congress's firebrand candidate V P Abdul Rasheed went to town with the four-seat breakthrough in Pinarayi Vijayan’s home constituency. Vijayan’s winning margin in Dharmadam fell to 19,247 votes in 2026 from 50,123 in 2021.

In the local-body by-election, CPM candidate K V Ratheeshan posted a face-saving win in Bavode East, defeating Congress candidate M Ranjeesh by 65 votes. In December 2025, CPM's Ratheeshan had lost the ward to Congress mandalam president Suresh Babu Thandarath by 13 votes. Suresh polled 530 votes against Ratheeshan’s 517, while BJP candidate Dhanesh M secured 87 votes.

Suresh Babu Thandarath (54) died of a heart attack after collapsing at his home on December 30, 17 days after the local-body election results were declared, necessitating the by-election.

Bavode East has changed hands between the CPM and Congress in successive elections. In 2015, Suresh Babu Thandarath won the ward for Congress by 156 votes, defeating CPM candidate V V Surendran. The BJP did not contest that election.

In 2020, when the ward was reserved for women, the CPM bounced back strongly, with N Sunitha defeating Congress candidate Anandavalli P by 413 votes. The BJP secured 92 votes that year.

In Monday’s by-election, Ratheeshan polled 600 votes, while Congress candidate M Ranjeesh secured 535 votes. The BJP’s K P Prajith polled only 56 votes.

The sharp fall in BJP votes gave the Congress grounds to allege a vote transfer. When contacted, Abdul Rasheed alleged that the CPM’s 65-vote victory was enabled by the BJP and said it indicated a pact between the two parties in Dharmadam.

However, even if the BJP had retained all 31 votes it lost (assuming they all went to the LDF), Ratheeshan would still have led the Congress candidate, Ranjeesh, by 34 votes.

Ranjeesh said 45 new voters had been added to the electoral roll for the by-election and that could have tipped the scale in favour of the LDF.

In Mattannur’s Uruvachal division, LDF candidate A K Suresh Kumar polled 628 votes and defeated UDF candidate Latheef Pazhassi by 276 votes. BJP candidate K Mohanan polled 31 votes.

In the local-body election held in August 2022, the CPM won the ward by 269 votes. The by-election was necessitated by the death of sitting CPM councillor K K Abhimanue (64) in May. Mattannur municipality, formed in 1990, follows a different election cycle because its first municipal elections were delayed until 1997 due to prolonged political and legal disputes.

Polling percentage increased in both wards. Uruvachal recorded 83.52 per cent polling, against 82 per cent in the previous election, while Bavode East recorded 85.5 per cent, up from 83.76 per cent.