For an assembly bypoll, Chengannur has generated a lot of anticipation and excitement rather uncommon to Kerala's political landscape that has been predominantly bipolar. While the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) sees the by-election as a referendum on its two-year-old government, the opposition Congress is keen on wresting the seat it has won all but four times. Fresh from beating the CPM in its bastion Tripura, the BJP is seeking to do better than in 2016 when it won nearly 16 per cent of the vote in the assembly polls.