The results of the Kerala local body polls that saw a three way contest between the ruling Communist led Left Democratic Front (LDF), opposition Congress led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has shown that Communists in Kerala still holds sway among the voters in Kerala.
The results show a clear advantage for the LDF in most of the rural and urban local bodies.
The CPI-M led LDF is leading in 7211 wards of Gram Panchayat, 1272 wards of Block Panchayat, in 211 wards of District Panchayt, in 1167 wards of Municipality and in 207 wards of Corporations.
The Congress-led UDF is ahead in 5790 wards of gram panchayat, 720 wards of block panchayat, in 111 wards of district panchayat, 1173 wards of municpality and 120 wards of corporations.
LDF has won the Thiruvananthapuram Corporations by bagging 51 seats of the total 100. The BJP led NDA bagged 34 seats, pushing the Congress UDF to the third position.
Palakkad Municipality has been bagged by BJP Kerala for the 2nd time with a clear majority winning 28 out of 52 wards. BJP’s candidate, Advocate V V Rajesh has won the LSG polls in Poojapura.
On the other hand, BJP’s state spokesperson and mayor candidate, B Gopalakrishnan who contested from the Kuttankulangara division of Thrissur corporation was defeated.
The party has more than doubled its control over gram panchayats – from around 10 to 24 this time.
The local body elections in Kerala were held in three phases on December 8, 10, and 14 with counting of votes happening on December 16. Elections happened for 941 gram panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 86 municipal councils, and 6 municipal corporations.