Assembly Elections 2026 Live Updates: UDF is renewed hope for people of Kerala, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday shared a video on social media of him enjoying a hearty breakfast with party leaders in Kerala recently, while discussing the ground realities in connection with the Assembly polls in the state.

Kerala will go to the polls on April 9.

In the video, he sits down to breakfast with Congress general secretary K C Venugopal, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan, and some party candidates, and holds discussions with them on issues such as brain drain, lack of jobs, and the proposed amendments to the FCRA.

"UDF is a renewed hope for the people of Kerala-our team is strong, united, and ready to lead," he added.

The BJP on Friday announced its full list of 27 candidates for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election, but the absence of its former state president, K Annamalai, the party’s most visible face in the state, has become the defining feature of the line-up.

Read our full report on Annamalai's absence from the list.

DMK leader Kanimozhi took a swipe at the AIADMK over its alliance with the BJP, saying its leader Edappadi K Palaniswami would face the same fate as JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, and wanted the party "at least" in the opposition.

The Lok Sabha MP, addressing a public meeting here for the April 23 polls, claimed it was not a mere Assembly election but a battle between "Keeladi and Nagpur, the headquarters of RSS." She was referring to the Keeladi archaeological excavations in this district, and claimed the findings have proven the heritage value of Tamil, which the "BJP does not want to accept." She said Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin had asked the Centre to accept the report of the findings, which it has not.

"They (BJP-led Centre) didn't accept it since that would reveal the significance of Tamils and the Tamil race to the world. The BJP cannot accept it; (a government) which keeps imposing Hindi on Tamil Nadu, gives pittance as allocation for Tamil compared to Sanskrit," she said.

PM Narendra Modi told BJP booth workers in Kerala that the party's success in the Thiruvananthapuram local body polls reflects a growing wave of support ahead of the April 9 Assembly election.

In a virtual interaction, Modi said it is evident that this time, Kerala is not just choosing a new government but also a new system.

"In this election, there is a wave of support for the BJP-NDA. Thiruvananthapuram has set a new precedent. Until now, both the Left and the Congress believed they could alternate in power regardless of the misrule or misgovernance that occurred. However, Thiruvananthapuram has shattered that perception," Modi said.

"As a result, the UDF and LDF are now focusing their attacks on the BJP rather than on each other... the people are fed up with the loot by the UDF and LDF," he said.

Chief Minister M K Stalin alleged that the NDA's betrayals include 'strangling' the MSMEs during the ongoing West Asia crisis.

Addressing an election rally here, Stalin alleged AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami had no achievements to claim for his government during 2017-21; neither does PM Modi, who comes on "election tours" to Tamil Nadu.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi accused the ruling LDF in Kerala and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of being Prime Minister Modi's "B-team", news agency PTI reported.

Priyanka, speaking at a corner meeting in Puthanthopu as part of the Congress-led UDF poll campaign for the Kerala assembly elections, alleged that Modi "bowed down" before the US and Israel in connection with the West Asia conflict.

"Our PM is a coward who has no spine and is compromised. We are paying every day because he does not have the guts to stand up for India..." she alleged.

She also alleged that Modi's policies have not provided safety and security to Indians stranded in the Gulf region during the conflict there.