THRITHALA: Congress candidate V T Balram has won the Thrithala assembly seat in Kerala, polling 76,427 votes to defeat CPM’s M B Rajesh, who finished with 68,042 votes. The margin between the two candidates stood at 8,385 votes. Balram, 47, holds a postgraduate degree and secured the constituency for Congress with a clear winning edge over the CPM’s sitting-member challenge.Positioned on the cusp of Kerala’s Palakkad and Malappuram districts, the Thrithala Assembly constituency ranks 49th among the state’s 140 legislative seats, linking to the Ponnani Lok Sabha area. This general seat activates over 200,000 voters from a balanced Hindu-Muslim mix, delivering turnouts above 77per cent, and covers Thrithala grama panchayat with rural expanses along north Kerala’s riverine belts. It highlights the seesaw UDF-LDF rivalry, diverging from IUML dominance with CPI(M)’s recent breakthrough. In the 2021 Kerala Assembly elections, CPI(M)’s M.B. Rajesh prevailed with 69,814 votes at 45.84per cent, narrowly defeating INC’s V.T. Balram’s 66,798 votes (43.86per cent) by 3,016 votes amid 77.03per cent turnout. The 2016 race flipped to INC’s V.T. Balram with 66,505 votes (47.16per cent), topping CPI(M)’s Subaida Ishac’s 55,958 votes (39.68per cent) by 10,547 votes from nearly 190,000 voters, marking the seat’s volatility. Into 2026, Thrithala’s alternating wins since the 1970s, driven by agrarian concerns and minority outreach, pit LDF’s momentum against UDF resurgence. Welfare schemes and flood mitigation will dominate, making this swing turf a pivotal swing factor in Ponnani’s broader electoral calculus.