Ahead of the polls, Kerala Opposition leader VD Satheesan had predicted that the Congress-led UDF would get more than 100 seats in the 2026 assembly elections. And when the votes were counted on May 4, his predictions came true.
However, this is not the only time Satheesan's election predictions came true. He had accurately made estimations about multiple bypolls over the past five years as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2025 local body polls.
2022 Thrikkakara bypolls
Ahead of the Thrikkakara assembly byelections in May 2022, necessitated by the death of late MLA P.T. Thomas, Satheesan had predicted that his wife and Congress candidate Uma Thomas would win by a margin of 20,000-25,000 votes. When the election results came, Uma Thomas defeated CPI(M)'s Jo Joseph by 25,016 votes.
2023 Puthuppally bypolls
During the Puthuppally bypolls in September 2023, following the death of former CM Oommen Chandy, the Opposition leader predicted that his son Chandy Oommen would beat the 33,000 record margin of his father and win by more than 35,000 votes. In the election, Chandy Oommen won by 37,719 votes. He secured 80,144 votes while his opponet Jaick C. Thomas won just 42,425 votes.
2024 Palakkad bypolls
After Shafi Parambil's election to Lok Sabha and resignation as Palakkad MLA, a bypoll was held in the assembly constituency in November 2024. V.D. Satheesan predicted that Congress candidate Rahul Mamkootathil would get a margin of 15,000 votes. He won by over 18,000 votes against BJP's C. Krishnakumar.
2025 Nilambur bypolls
In June 2025, byelections were held in Nilambur after the death of Aryadan Mohammad. Satheesan predicted that his son Aryadan Shoukath would win by a margin of 7 per cent. As predicted, Shoukath won 44.17 per cent (77,737) votes, 7 per cent more than LDF's M. Swaraj, who received 37.88 per cent (66,660) votes.
2024 Lok Sabha polls
Satheesan also predicted that the UPA would get 17-18 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The UPA won 18 seats in the elections.
2025 local body polls
Ahead of the 2025 local body polls, Satheesan made a list of projections. He said the UDF would win 7 to 9 municipal corporations. The UDF won seven corporations in the elections while lost Kasargode corporation by one seat and Thiruvananthapuram by two seats. Another projection was victory in more than 55 per cent gram panchayats and more than 60 per cent municipalities. The UDF won 59 per cent of gram panchayats and 64 per cent of municipalities.