Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders Pinarayi Vijayan and VS Achuthanandan both won with considerable leads in their respective constituencies Dharmadam and Malampuzha, as the 2016 Kerala Assembly elections were declared on Thursday. The party will chose one of the veterans, who have been at odds with each other for decades, for the top job on Friday.

Vijayan, 72, won the Dharmadam constituency by a margin of 36,902, after getting 56.8% of the 1,53,627 total votes cast there. Congress candidate Mambaram Divakaran came in second with 50,424 votes, while BJP’s Mohanan Mananthery trailed behind with 12,763. This is Vijayan’s first time contesting in an election since he resigned as the electricity minister in 1998.

Achuthanandan won by a margin of 27,142, with 73,299 of the 1,59,710 votes cast in Malampuzha, approximately 45.9% of the total votes cast. The 92-year-old defeated BJP’s C Krishnakumar, who got 46,157 votes. Congress candidate VS Joy followed with 35,333 votes. Achuthanandan, who enjoys wide popularity among the masses in the state, served as the chief minister from 2006 to 2011, and was later dethroned by the United Democratic Front’s Oomen Chandy.