Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate K. Premkumar retained the Ottapalam assembly seat with a margin of 26,777 votes, defying a state-wide trend of reduced support for the ruling alliance. Premkumar defeated United Democratic Front (UDF)-backed candidate P.K. Sasi, significantly increasing his 2021 winning margin of 15,152 votes.

The result in Ottapalam is an outlier in Palakkad district, where the LDF lost three sitting seats and recorded narrowed margins in six other constituencies. Political observers noted that Ottapalam was the only seat where the LDF witnessed a substantial surge in its winning margin during this election cycle.

P.K. Sasi, a former CPI(M) leader who contested with UDF backing following his expulsion from the party, attributed the loss to a failure in vote consolidation. Sasi alleged that a portion of the UDF vote share shifted to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which saw an increase in its local vote count.

Sasi’s candidacy had been a point of contention due to his prior demotion from the CPI(M) district committee over allegations of financial irregularities and misconduct. He had served as chairman of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation until February 19, shortly before the election.

Election officials are scheduled to finalize the official vote tallies for the remaining districts by Wednesday morning. Political parties in Palakkad have announced internal review meetings to analyze the shift in voting patterns across the district.