Congress' 2026 Kerala playbook: How party plans to use targeted ticket allocation and 'early start' to its advantage

Congress

• Congress to allot up to 50% seats to women and youth for Kerala 2026 polls
• Candidate selection process to begin in January after 'Mission 2026' meeting
• UDF secured 38.81% votes in Kerala's 2025 local body polls

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Days after the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) put up a strong show in the local body elections in Kerala, the Congress, reportedly is planning a host of changes -- both organisationally  and in the process of ticket distribution in the lead-up to the Assembly polls in April 2026.

The party’s core committee, reportedly, has decided to begin the process of identifying potential and probable candidates in January, following the two-day ‘Mission 2026’ meeting scheduled for January 4 and 5.

Outlining Congress' 2026 strategy

Outlining Congress' strategy for the upcoming polls, Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan, speaking to The Indian Express said the Congress would allocate more seats to women and youth in the upcoming Assembly elections. "Up to 50 per cent of the party’s seats in the Assembly election would be allotted to women and young candidates," remarked the LoP in Kerala Assembly.

Quick to clarify that the ticket-allocation decision was taken at the highest level, he said: "The decision was in line with the policy of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's commitment to give greater representation to women and youth, up to 50 per cent." “We are responsible for implementing this direction and we will do so,” he said. He said the move did not mean that senior leaders would be sidelined.

“There should be more opportunities for the younger generation. All of us came up in the same way. Can we decide that those who come after us should not get an opportunity?” he asked. Satheesan said the national leadership wished to provide more opportunities for young leaders to keep the party active.

Will early start pay dividends?

The party is moving to finalise the first list of its assembly election candidates by February 2026. The candidate announcement is expected to coincide with the conclusion of a UDF state tour led by Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan on February 28, according to party sources quoted by The New Indian Express. The tour, slated to begin from Kasaragod on February 1, is intended to gauge public opinion ahead of the preparation of UDF’s election manifesto.

“Like the Congress, other partners have also been asked to reach an early consensus on candidates in select seats so they can be presented at a rally featuring the candidates during the concluding programme in Thiruvananthapuram,” a Congress leader quoted by the publication said.

Revisiting local polls outcome:

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) claimed 38.81% and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) got 33.45% of the votes polled in the two-phase 2025 local body polls in the State, according to data released by the State Election Commission (SEC). The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) claimed 14.71% of the votes, while 13.03% of the votes went to other parties and Independents.