Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan updated his social media biography on Sunday, ahead of the vote counting for the recent Assembly elections in the State scheduled for May 4. His new bio reads 'Polit Bureau Member, Communist Party of India (Marxist)'.

Vijayan is seeking a historic third consecutive term from his home constituency, Dharmadam, a stronghold of the Left. The 2026 election contest is more competitive, with candidates fielded by the United Democratic Front (UDF), led by Congress, and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The UDF nominated VP Abdul Rasheed to contest against Vijayan, while BJP candidate K Ranjith is also in the fray. Vijayan won Dharmadam comfortably in both 2016 and 2021 elections.

In 2021, Vijayan secured 95,522 votes, representing 59.8% of the total, while UDF candidate C Raghunathan received 28.4% of the votes. In 2016, Vijayan’s first contest in the seat, he won by a margin of 30,905 votes against UDF’s Mambaram Divakaran, with 87,329 votes to Divakaran’s 50,424.

Exit polls forecast a win for the Congress-led UDF in the Keralam Assembly elections. Axis My India projects UDF winning between 78 and 90 seats out of 140, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) securing 49 to 62 seats, and the BJP-led NDA obtaining zero to three seats.

Similarly, People’s Pulse predicts the LDF will win 55 to 60 seats, UDF 75 to 85 seats, and NDA zero to three seats. JVC estimates UDF winning 72 to 84 seats, LDF 52 to 60 seats, and NDA three to eight seats.

Keralam held polling in a single phase on April 9, achieving a voter turnout of 78.27%. The LDF had previously won the 2021 elections, breaking the state’s pattern of government changes every five years. The 2021 results were a setback for the UDF, with LDF winning 99 of 140 seats, including 62 by CPI-M, leading to Vijayan’s reappointment as Chief Minister for another term.