Thiruvananthapuram: As Kerala moves closer to the 2026 Assembly elections, a comprehensive ‘Mood of the State’ survey conducted by Citizens Opinion Research and Evaluation (CORE) for Mathrubhumi offers a nuanced assessment of the performance of the government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The survey analysed 28,432 samples across the state.

When respondents were asked how they evaluate the performance of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his role, 34.62 percent rated it as excellent, 28.29 percent as average, and 33.05 percent as poor. Among Gen Z voters, 36.30 percent rated his performance as excellent, 31.48 percent as average, and 27.58% as poor.

Overall, Pinarayi Vijayan secured an individual performance rating of 62.91 percent. His support was strongest in Northern Kerala, where 37.94 percent of voters described his performance as excellent, compared to 30.96 percent in Central Kerala and 32.38 percent in Southern Kerala.

A category-wise assessment of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s performance shows varying perceptions across gender and religious groups. Among women, 33.88 percent rated his performance as excellent, 31.63 percent as average, and 30.30 percent as poor. Among men, 35.35 percent described his performance as excellent, 25.35 percent as average, and 35.37 percent as poor. In the transgender category, 21.74% rated his performance as excellent.

Across religious groups, 38.88 percent of Hindus rated his performance as excellent, compared to 28.54 percent of Christians and 29.67 percent of Muslims, while 27.45 percent of respondents from other communities also rated his performance as excellent.