Representative image of voting.
Credit: iStock Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: Elections to 23,576 local body wards in Kerala will be held in two phases on December 9 and 11. Counting will be on December 13.
The local body elections assume much significance as it could set the trend for the assembly polls that will be held within a few months.
While the LDF camps are hopeful that the welfare measures of the Pinarayi Vijayan government would help in this local body polls, the Congress-led United Democratic Front and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance are trying to cash in on anti-incumbency against the Pinarayi government.
Of the 1200 local bodies in Kerala, the LDF is now in power in around 680, UDF in 405 and NDA in around 20.
The LDF-ruled Thiruvananthapuram corporation, Congress-ruled Kannur corporation and BJP-ruled Palakkad are among the local bodies to witness prestigious electoral battles.
While the BJP is trying to win the Thiruvananthapuram corporation in view of the impressive performance the party had in 2015 and 2020 elections, the Congress is trying to regain its lost glory in the state capital, whereas the CPM is trying to retain its nearly three decade long rule in the city corporation.
BJP and Congress already announced high profile candidates including Kerala first woman IPS officer R Sreelekha and former Congress MLA K S Sabarinadhan respectively.
Despite Kannur being a stronghold of CPM, the LDF lost the Kannur corporation to the Congress-led UDF in 2020.The CPM is now making all out efforts to win the Kannur corporation.
The BJP is in power in Palakkad and Pandalam municipalities. The CPM and Congress are trying to defeat the BJP in the two municipalities.
Leaders of all political parties are expressing high confidence.
CPM state secretary M V Govindan said that the local body election would be a step towards the LDF's hattrick victory in the 2026 assembly elections.
Leader of opposition V D Satheesan of the Congress said that the local body election would be a public trial of the ruling left-front government in Kerala and the Congress-led UDF will have a thumping victory.
For BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar the local body elections are quite crucial as it is the major elections in Kerala after he took over as BJP state president.
LDF expecting a repeat of the 2020
Even as the left-front suffered a major setback in the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Kerala, they made a comeback in the 2020 local body elections and could take forward that winning trend in the 2021 assembly polls too.
The LDF camps are expecting to repeat the same pattern this time too. After the setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Pinarayi government has been initiating a slew of measures like increasing social security pensions to over 60 lakh people, which are considered as efforts to woo the voters.
This is the first elections being held after delimitation of the local body wards. The Congress already raised allegations of irregularities by the ruling LDF in the delimitation process.