The Congress party defeated dissident leader and former DCC president A.V. Gopinathan in Peringottukurissi panchayat. Congress candidate K.R. Ratheesh beat Mr. Gopinathan by 134 votes in the Bemmanniyur ward. However, the victory was not enough for Congress to secure a majority. Out of 18 seats, Congress won 7, just three short of a majority. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) won 5 seats, the Independent Democratic Front (IDF) led by Mr. Gopinathan took 4 seats, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) got 2 seats. This makes the NDA a key player in the panchayat. The IDF and LDF together have 9 seats, one short of a majority. They contested 6 and 12 seats respectively, with the IDF losing its leader in the process. In 2020, the United Democratic Front (UDF) secured 11 seats, but this time their total went down due to Mr. Gopinathan's alliance with CPI(M). This defeat marks Mr. Gopinathan’s first political loss. He was president of the Peringottukurissi grama panchayat for 25 years and the only Congress candidate to win from the Alathur Assembly seat in 1991. Although he distanced himself from Congress since 2009, he formally left after being denied a seat in 2021 and joined an event led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in 2023. Mr. Gopinathan’s defeat boosts Congress confidence while dealing a big blow to the CPI(M) in the region.