The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday, November 4, rescheduled the Palakkad Assembly bye-election from November 13 to November 20, considering the clash with Kalpathy Ratholsavam, a yearly celebration at the Sree Viswanatha Swamy Temple in Kalpathy. This year the Ratholsavam takes place November 13-15. The results will be announced on November 23.

The demand for rescheduling the election date was proposed by all the parties including Congress, Communist Party of India (marxist) [CPI(M)] and Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) immediately after the polling date was announced. 

“Considering large scale social, cultural and religious engagements on that day which may cause inconvenience to a large number of people, gives rise to various logistic issues and may lead to reduced voters’ participation during the poll,” ECI press release reads. The parties highlighted that the election on the first day of the Ratholsavam would make it difficult for voters in Kalpathy.

Polling for the Palakkad Assembly was necessitated after Congress MLA Shafi Parambil resigned as the legislator following his election as the MP of Vadakara in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. 

The Congress party has fielded Rahul Mamkootathil as the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) candidate, while the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has nominated Sarin P to contest the elections. Sarin was a former congress leader who  served as the convenor of the digital media cell for the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). 

Meanwhile the BJP has nominated the party’s state general secretary C Krishnakumar as their candidate.