After three-and-a-half decades, the hilly district of Idukki has witnessed a clean sweep for the United Democratic Front (UDF) across all five assembly election seats. However, the district has been left out of ministerial representation. According to Congress leaders, the last time the UDF won all five seats in Idukki was during the 1991 Assembly elections, and the district had high hopes for a ministerial post for one of its five newly elected MLAs this time around.

A senior Congress leader admitted that the UDF leadership had actively considered Idukki MLA Roy K. Paulose for a cabinet position. “But to ensure communal balance in the ministry, his name was excluded. If Kerala Congress (Joseph) Chairman P.J. Joseph had contested the election, he would have certainly been a minister from the district,” the leader said.

The UDF’s clean sweep in the district saw five of its members elected to the new assembly. Kerala Congress (Joseph faction) leader Apu John Joseph was elected from the Thodupuzha constituency, while Congress members F. Raja (Devikulam), Senapathi Venu (Udumbanchola), Roy K. Paulose (Idukki), and Cyriac Thomas (Peerumade) secured the remaining seats. “For the past 20 years, Congress has had no MLAs in the Idukki district. In 2026, the party secured four MLAs here and expected a ministerial post, but it did not happen,” the leader added.

The district urgently requires government intervention on several pressing issues, including construction bans, title deed disputes, the Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) issue, and the resumption of work on the 14.5-kilometre Neriamangalam-Valara stretch of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway. “If a minister had been appointed from the district, we could have approached the government directly to find solutions to these issues,” said a source.

Meanwhile, KPCC General Secretary Ibrahimkutty Kallar stated that the party’s district leadership will closely follow up on these regional grievances. “We will draw attention to these issues, and there is no need for public anxiety,” Mr. Kallar said. Over the past decade, the district enjoyed ministerial representation under the previous two Left Democratic Front (LDF) governments. CPI(M) veteran and former Udumbanchola MLA M.M. Mani served as the Electricity Minister in the first LDF government, while Kerala Congress (M) leader and former Idukki MLA Roshy Augustine held the Water Resources portfolio in the subsequent LDF cabinet.