![MK Raghavan, Rahul Gandhi, Shafi Parambil and KC Venugopal](http://media.assettype.com/thenewsminute%2F2024-06%2Fa923106f-994a-4dd5-88a1-0846580a8a95%2Fudf_kerala.jpg?w=480&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max)
Marking a significant win for the United Democratic Front (UDF), the Congress-led front attained a sweeping victory in Kerala, winning 18 out of 20 seats in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In another notable development, NDA candidate Suresh Gopi opened the account for the BJP in the state by winning Thrissur with a margin of over 74,000 votes. He is the first BJP candidate to secure a Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. The Communist Party of India’s VS Sunilkumar came second, while the Congress’ K Muralidharan came third in Thrissur.
Meanwhile, the state’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) was able to secure only one seat in Alathur, where Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan emerged victorious, securing a margin of 15,000 votes against Congress’ incumbent MP Ramya Haridas.
Rahul Gandhi secured the highest majority in Kerala, winning a second term from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency with a lead of over 3.64 lakh votes against his nearest rival, Annie Raja of the CPI.
The Thiruvananthapuram constituency witnessed a tight contest between Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Shashi Tharoor. During the initial stages of counting, BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar was leading, but Congress’ incumbent MP Shashi Tharoor eventually won by a margin of more than 16,000 votes.
Another closely contested constituency was Attingal, where UDF's Adoor Prakash narrowly defeated LDF's V Joy. In Vadakara, the results of which were highly anticipated, UDF candidate and Palakkad MLA Shafi Parambil defeated LDF's KK Shailaja by more than one lakh votes.
In the 2019 general elections, the UDF had swept 19 seats while the LDF won only one seat, Alappuzha. This election, the Left parties in Kerala did not enter a seat sharing arrangement with their partners in the INDI alliance, choosing instead to field candidates separately. A total of 194 candidates vied for the 20 seats in the state.