Haripad election results 2026: INC’s Ramesh Chennithala defeats CPI’s T.T. Jismon by 23,377 votes

NEW DELHI: In Kerela’s Haripad, INC’s Ramesh Chennithala received 68,184 votes, defeating CPI’s T.T. Jismon by 23,377 votes. CPI’s T.T. Jismon received 44,807 votes. There were a total of 183512 registered voters on the electoral rolls for the 2026 Assembly election in Haripad Assembly constituency, of whom 87373 were male, 96135 female and 4 belonged to the third gender.Exit polls released for the high-stakes Kerala battle indicate a competitive contest, with the incumbent LDF government seeking a third consecutive term amid a strong challenge from the UDF.Haripad Assembly constituency, numbered 107, lies in Alappuzha district of Kerala under the Alappuzha parliamentary constituency. Established in 1957 and refined in the 2008 delimitation, it covers Haripad Municipality, panchayats like Chettikulangara, Mannanchery, and coastal-riverine areas along the Pampa River meeting Vembanad Lake, with around 205,000 electors. This general seat blends paddy cultivation, coconut groves, fishing hamlets, coir industries, and temple tourism — highlighted by the famed Chettikulangara Kuthiyottam festival — fostering rural prosperity amid backwaters, canals, and seasonal vibrancy.CPI(M) of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has a strong hold since 2016, with Ramesh Hegde as current MLA. In 2021, he won convincingly with 73,859 votes (49.82 per cent), defeating Congress's Shibu Baby John (67,412 votes) by 6,447 votes (4.35 per cent) at 78.65 per cent turnout — reversing UDF's 2011 edge and building on 2016's narrow 1,877-vote margin over the same rival. LDF's farmer-fisher base edges out UDF's traditional sway and BJP's 5-7 per cent share in this bellwether.Key issues include monsoon flooding submerging farmlands, saline water intrusion harming paddy, coastal erosion, fish depletion from overfishing and pollution, coir worker distress amid mechanization, youth unemployment spurring migration, poor rural roads and drainage, waste in waterways, and demands for embankment strengthening, irrigation modernization, seafood clusters, temple infrastructure, and climate-resilient farming. These agrarian-maritime woes sustain intense LDF-UDF contests in Haripad's culturally rich lowlands.