Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Kerala constituency profile: Will UDF's Dean Kuriakose hold on to Idukki?

In the last Lok Sabha elections, Dean Kuriakose won the Idukki seat with a majority of 171,053 votes. Will he retain Idukki in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections against Left's Joice George?

Idukki Lok Sabha constituency consists of Muvattupuzha, Kothamangalam, Devikulam, Udumbanchola, Thodupuzha, Idukki and Peerumade. Idukki is one of the constituencies where the UDF is believed to have a clear lead in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In the last Lok Sabha elections of 2019, UDF's Congress candidate Dean Kuriakose won here with a majority of 171,053 votes. This was a record majority in the constituency. The LDF's Adv. Joice George was replaced by Dean Kuriakose in 2019 when the latter secured 498,493 of the total 9,19,559 votes polled in the constituency, while Joice George, who once again entered the field as a Left independent, got 3,27,440 votes. NDA's BDJS candidate Biju Krishnan secured 78,648 votes in 2019. 

The main contest in Idukki is between Dean Kuriakose and Joice George for the third consecutive election. Adv. Sangeeta Viswanathan is the BDJS candidate for the NDA.

In the past two elections, Joice George contested as an independent candidate with left-wing backing. However, this time, he is contesting on a party symbol. While five out of the seven assembly constituencies in the region are aligned with the Left, the acceptance of Dean in Idukki poses a challenge for the Left coalition.

Candidates in the Idukki Lok Sabha constituency will address issues concerning the plantation and agriculture sectors. Their focus will be on garnering support from farmers and laborers. While the Kerala Congress votes, aligned with the LDF, offer hope for the Left, Joice George faces a formidable challenge in overcoming the record majority secured by Dean Kuriakose in the previous election. The BDJS is not expected to make significant strides in the electoral landscape.