Peravoor Election 2026: KK Shailaja Takes On Congress Heavyweight Sunny Joseph

Former Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja, fondly known as "Shailaja Teacher," is contesting the 2026 Assembly elections from the Peravoor seat. She is pitted against three-time MLA and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph.

Located in the Kannur district and part of the Kannur Lok Sabha constituency, Peravoor has traditionally been a closely contested region between the Congress-led UDF and CPI(M)-led LDF.

Early Life

Born in 1957 and raised in the scenic seaside district of Kannur in northern Kerala, Shailaja is the only child of a farmer and a homemaker. She idolised her maternal grandmother, MK Kalyani. She opted for social work at a young age along with her and joined the Students' Federation of India (SFI), a student organisation affiliated with CPM, in 1979. 

Shailaja completed her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from PRNSS College, Calicut University, in 1978, followed by a Bachelor of Education (Physical Science) from Vishweshraiya College in Virajpet in 1980. She then became a member of the Kerala Socialist Youth Federation, which came to be known as the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), in 1980. 

Assembly Election Debut

Shailaja contested the first time in 1996 when she was fielded from the Koothuparamba Assembly constituency. She won the election on her debut.

In 2006, she represented CPM from Peravoor and defeated the Congress candidate AD Mustafa by over 9,000 votes. The party once again fielded her from the constituency, but she lost to Sunny Joseph by a thin margin of around 3,400 votes in the next polls.

In 2016, she returned to Kuthuparamba and defeated KP Mohanan by more than 12,000 votes.

During the last Assembly elections in Kerala, Shailaja won won by a record margin of 60,963 votes from Mattannur. The CPM had even picked Shailaja as its candidate from the Vatakara Lok Sabha constituency during the 2024 general elections. She lost to Congress' Shafi Parambil by more than 1 lakh votes.

Shailaja became popular when she served as the health minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan-led government from 2016 to 2021. Her role was particularly appreciated during the COVID-19 pandemic.