According to the survey, UDF-backed candidate G. Sudhakaran is likely to defeat sitting MLA H. Salam of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) with a margin of nearly five percentage points.

The vote share estimates show UDF leading with 47.7 per cent, followed by LDF at 41.96 per cent, while the BJP trails with 10.34 per cent. The projected lead stands at 5.74 per cent in favour of the UDF.

The survey was conducted between March 23 and 29, covering a sample size of 31,706 respondents.

Sudhakaran has ended his 63-year-long association with CPM and announced in March that he will contest the upcoming Assembly elections as an independent candidate. A two-time Cabinet minister and four-time MLA, Sudhakaran said on March 12 that he will enter the fray from the Ambalapuzha constituency, with the UDF extending its support to the veteran leader.

Following his exit, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan justified his remark against Sudhakaran, claiming the word "chettatharam" was not intended as an insult, but rather as a reference to his former colleague's "betrayal" of Marxist ideology.

Responding to reporters' queries on the issue at a press conference here, Vijayan said that he did not refer to Sudhakaran as a 'chetta' (closely translated as a bad man).

"I said political 'chettatharam' (cheapness). It is a term I have used several times in the past. It does not mean I am calling someone 'chetta'," the CM contended.

Vijayan claimed that Sudhakaran's actions amounted to a betrayal of his and the party's ideology, and that is what he meant to convey through his remarks. "That is how it should be seen," the CM said.