No woman has yet reached Kerala Assembly from Kasaragod; A look at district’s bizarre poll history

Kasaragod, Kerala: Are voters in Kasaragod opposed to women candidates? While that may be debatable, the district’s electoral history in Assembly polls suggests a stark reality: not a single woman has ever been elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly from here.

Despite frequent discussions on women’s empowerment and representation, both the LDF and UDF fronts have so far not fielded even a single female candidate in any of the district’s five constituencies.

However, the BJP has experimented with a woman candidate in the past. In the 2011 Assembly elections, Jayalakshmi N. Bhat contested from the Kasaragod constituency as the BJP nominee. She finished second, behind UDF candidate NA Nellikkunnu of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

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Nellikkunnu secured 53,068 votes, while Jayalakshmi Bhat polled 43,330 votes. LDF candidate Azeez Kadappuram of the INL received 16,467 votes. Nellikkunnu won the seat with a margin of 9,738 votes.

Even this time, both the LDF and UDF have refrained from fielding women candidates. From the NDA camp, BJP district president ML Ashwini is likely to be fielded in Kasaragod. If her candidature does not materialise, none of the major fronts in the district may have a woman candidate in the fray this time either.

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Meanwhile, the 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, the Election Commission of India announced on Sunday, with the counting of votes scheduled to take place on May 4.

The Model Code of Conduct came into place on Sunday, setting in process elections to the 140-member State Assembly, also known as Kerala Niyamasabha.

The tenure of the current assembly is scheduled to end on May 23, 2026.