Polling Infrastructure & Voter Engagement
During the June 2025 by-election, the constituency featured 263 polling stations—including 59 newly added booths, serving over 2.32 lakh registered voters. This expansion helped reduce queue lengths and improved accessibility across hamlets, forests, and urban wards. Voter turnout hit 75.27%, marginally higher than in the 2021 polls (~75.20%).
Demographics & Cultural Context
Literacy in Malappuram district stands at approximately 93.5%, and Nilambur continues to uphold high civic engagement and electoral participation. The area includes tribal communities in border panchayats like Amarambalam and Pothukal, along with agrarian villages and town residents.
Economic & Livelihood Landscape
Agriculture & Plantation Crops: The constituency is heavily agrarian. Locals cultivate coconut, banana, areca nut, spices, and rice in villages like Edakkara, Areekode, Edavanna, and Vazhikadavu.
Wildlife-related tourism: Forest-tourism zones and tribal heritage in Amarambalam and Pothukal offer eco-touristic potential.
NRIs & remittances: Across Malappuram district, including Nilambur, Gulf migration income is a vital contributor to household stability.
Trade & Services: Nilambur town and semi-urban hubs like Chungathara and Edakkara host retail shops, spice and timber trade, small transport businesses, schools, and cooperation with public services.
Blue economy: Absent due to Nilambur’s inland terrain.
Economic Strata
Most residents fall within the middle-income bracket, backed by agrarian income, remittances, and small enterprise. A smaller group of land-holding families and entrepreneurs hold higher income, while some marginal farmers or tribal households in Amarambalam may reside below the poverty line. Overall literacy, cooperatives, and welfare programs have reduced economic vulnerability.
Political Representation & Recent Developments
As of June 2025, Aryadan Shoukath (Congress/UDF) won the seat in a high-stakes bypoll from Nilambur municipality, succeeding resignation-triggered by-election—key to Wayanad Lok Sabha politics.
Notable Development Activities:
Poll infrastructure overhaul: 59 new polling stations were added, elected officials addressed voter access concerns, and logistical security strengthened the bypoll process with CCTV and webcasting in tribal and remote booths.
Road and connectivity improvements: Ongoing feasibility exploration of the Tirur–Nilambur metro reflects infrastructure aspirations, while highways and local roads are being upgraded to better integrate Nilambur with Kozhikode and broader Malappuram district.
Voter participation campaigns: Smooth election-day management and responsive polling enhancements helped ensure a turnout above 75%, signaling strong civic consciousness.
Nilambur Assembly Constituency is a vibrant mix of forested landscapes, agricultural heartlands, and NRI-supported households. While primarily anchored by middle-income livelihoods, it houses tribal communities and agrarian resilience in its interior zones. With recent improvements to polling accessibility, road governance, and election infrastructure capacity under its belt, Nilambur is demonstrating a forward trajectory—balancing grassroots heritage with civic advancement.
