Thiruvananthapuram: In what is being seen as a curtain-raiser for next year’s assembly polls, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) clinched a major victory in the Kerala local body polls, with a comeback in crucial urban and rural local bodies.
According to the latest update, the UDF has won four of the six municipal corporations and secured victory in 54 of the 87 municipalities, seven of the 14 district panchayats, 79 of the 152 block panchayats, and 505 of the 941 village panchayats in the state. While the Congress registered significant gains, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) suffered a major setback, winning only in just one corporation, 28 municipalities, 63 block panchayats, seven district panchayats, and 340 village panchayats.
The results also gave reason for celebration to the BJP-led NDA, which emerged as the single largest party in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, winning 50 of the 101 seats. Two independents, who have won from the corporation, will now decide the fate of the administration, as 51 seats are required to form the council. The BJP also won 24 village panchayats.
Of the six corporations, the UDF won Kollam, Kochi, Kannur and Thrissur. The LDF retained Kozhikode Corporation, while the NDA became the single largest party in Thiruvananthapuram.
Polling for 1,199 of the total 1,200 local bodies was held in two phases on 9 and 11 December across Kerala, with Mattannur being the only exception.
The results are a boost for the Congress, which has been in the Opposition for the past 10 years. The party, which faced several setbacks in the run-up to the polls, including the expulsion of its Palakkad MLA over complaints of sexual abuse and infighting, focused its campaign on the Sabarimala gold theft case. Meanwhile, the LDF banked on welfare measures and development initiatives such as the expansion of National Highway-66 and its extreme poverty eradication programme. The campaign was also led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The Kerala government had declared itself free of extreme poverty on 1 November.
Reacting to the results, AICC general secretary and Alappuzha MP KC Venugopal said the victory was a clear symbol of the people’s mood ahead of the next Assembly election.
“We are going to sweep the Assembly polls. Whatever people say, people in Kerala vote logically. It is political voting, despite local issues. And it shows what people feel about the Pinarayi Vijayan government,” Venugopal said.
Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said the historic victory was the result of the united work of “Team UDF” and growing resentment against the incumbent LDF.
“The LDF made their campaign communal. Till the Parliament polls, the CPI(M) was engaged in minority communalism. After their defeat, they started appeasing the majority,” Satheesan said. He added that the CPI(M)’s communal politics worked in favour of the BJP.
LDF convenor TP Ramakrishnan said the front would examine the results and take crucial decisions for the future.
“The CPI(M) and the LDF are ready for any internal examination. We will take everything into consideration,” he said.
The results are particularly significant for the UDF, which has been in opposition in the state assembly for the past decade. In the 2020 local body polls, the LDF had won 514 village panchayats, 108 block panchayats, 11 district panchayats and five municipal corporations. In the subsequent assembly election, the Left coalition had won 99 of the 140 seats.
“The LDF has faced a major political defeat. Whatever they put forward in governance and welfare did not work amid strong anti-incumbency. Similarly, soft Hindutva has also boomeranged,” said state-based political analyst KP Sethunath.
He added that the BJP was able to make inroads across the state, cutting into the vote banks of both CPI(M) and UDF, while minority votes appeared to have consolidated behind the UDF. He said the trend could repeat in the upcoming assembly polls.
“The CPI(M) is in a real political bind. They thought the Congress would diminish and that they would gain minority support. That has not happened,” Sethunath added.
BJP’s gains
The local body poll results will also boost the BJP, which has been trying to make an electoral breakthrough in Kerala. The party has won 50 seats in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, while the ruling party secured only 29, opening the possibility of BJP rule in the state capital for the first time.
The BJP focused its campaign on the Sabarimala gold theft case, along with civic issues such as sewerage and waste management. The party also made major promises for Thiruvananthapuram, where it ran a strong organisational campaign. In the run-up to the polls, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit the capital if the party won there. He had also claimed that the BJP-led Centre would conduct the next Olympics in the city.
The party fielded several prominent candidates, including senior leaders and Kerala’s first woman IPS officer R Sreelekha, who won from the Sasthamangalam ward.
In 2020, the BJP held 35 of the 100 wards in the corporation, while the LDF ruled with 52 seats. Following delimitation, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation now has 101 wards.
The Congress, though finishing third in the capital, made notable gains by winning 19 seats, up from 10 in the 2020 local body polls.
The BJP also made gains in other civic bodies, increasing its presence in the Kozhikode and Kollam Corporations with 14 seats each, and winning the Tripunithura municipality. However, the party faced a setback in the incumbent Pandalam municipality, where it lost to the Left.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Vidhi Bhutra)
Also read: Goa, Kerala lose sheen as more foreign tourists pick Maharashtra & Bengal, shows RBI data