The Ambalappuzha constituency is a stronghold of the LDF. During the past two decades, the UDF could register a win only once, in 2001. CPI(M) leader G. Sudhakaran, who won in the 2006 and 2011 Assembly elections, is vying for a third time now. Mr. Sudhakaran trounced M. Liju of the UDF by a margin of over 16,000 votes in the 2011 elections.
In fact, the victory margin had gone up from that of 2006, when he defeated D. Sugathan of the DIC(K) with a difference of over 11,000 votes. The BJP could exert only marginal influence in the past two Assembly elections in the constituency. With the BJP-BDJS alliance set to enter the fray with new enthusiasm, a higher vote share for the combine is likely.
In the Lok Sabha election in 2014, the UDF had an upper hand in the constituency. The UDF candidate got 3,237 votes more than his LDF counterpart then. Woes of voters of the coastal area and the unending demand for adequate supply of drinking water remain topics of prime discussion in the constituency. The 2011 delimitation process had taken away Kainakary, Nedumudy, and Thakazhy grama panchayats from Amabalappuzha. Now the constituency consists of Alappuzha municipality wards from 20 to 44 and the grama panchayats of Ambalappuzha North, Ambalappuzha South, Punnapra North, Punnapra South, and Purakkad.
