The United Democratic Front (UDF) retained the Ayyappankkavu division of the Kochi Corporation, albeit with a significantly reduced margin, in the Keralam local body by-election result declared on Tuesday (September 29, 2026).

Ajith Kumar A.K., 77, registered his maiden electoral victory in his debut contest, defeating P.K. Usman of the CPI(M) by a margin of 549 votes. Deepak Joy had won the seat in last year’s election by a margin of 1,183 votes. The bypoll became necessary after Mr. Joy was elected as the Tripunithura MLA. The victory has restored the UDF’s strength to 48 in the 76-member council.

Mr. Ajith Kumar garnered 1,492 votes against Mr. Usman’s 943. Independent candidate Sujith C. Sukumaran, who had contested as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate in the last election, finished a distant third with 305 votes. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finished fourth yet again, with its candidate K.V. Bejoy managing just 269 votes. All three major fronts had fielded electoral debutants.

Mr. Ajith Kumar had served as secretary of the Thrikkanarvattom Mandalam and the Ernakulam North Block. “The focus will be on ensuring the completion of development projects initiated by my predecessors. I will also reach out to the people to understand their priorities regarding development across various sectors,” said Mr. Ajith Kumar.

Mr. Joy said the victory margin was impressive considering that voter turnout dropped from 56% in the last election to 47% in the by-poll. “In fact, that is the usual victory margin in the division. Last year’s election was an exception, considering the wave in favour of the UDF across the State,” said Mr. Joy, who represented the division twice.

UDF bastion

Ayyappankkavu has remained a strong UDF bastion since the turn of the millennium. In the 2020 election, the UDF’s Mini Dileep won the division after fending off a stiff challenge from Ashley Rose of V4Kochi, who finished second.