Kerala swings Left in local body polls

Six months ahead of the Assembly polls, the CPM-led Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) dealt a blow to the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Kerala local body elections.

The LDF secured a clear lead in gram panchayats and block panchayats, while maintaining an edge in municipalities and municipal corporations. The two fronts shared honours in elections to the district panchayats.  The BJP, making a claim to form a strong third political alternative in the state, improved its performance in corporations and scripted a stunning surge in the hung Thiruvananthapuram Corporation coming second with 34 seats, ahead of the UDF (21 seats). The LDF won 42 seats.

Of the 941 gram panchayats, the LDF secured 549, while the UDF ended up with 365. The BJP and its allies won 14 panchayats, a marked improvement on its 2010 tally of two.

In the 152 block panchayats, the LDF topped with 89 and the UDF took 62. The contest was evenly poised in the 14 district panchayats (seven each for LDF and UDF) and 87 municipalities (LDF 44 and UDF 41).

In the six corporations, the LDF took Kollam and Kozhikode while Kochi went the UDF way. Elections to corporations of Thrissur and Kannur, too, returned a hung verdict.

The LDF remained top in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur, while the UDF managed to get a slight edge in Kannur.

The result will be campaign fuel for the LDF in the run-up to the 2016 Assembly election, after suffering a series of poll reverses that started in 2006. The Opposition front also made significant gains in the Indian Union Muslim League bastion of Malappuram where the League was also engaged in “friendly” contests with its ally Congress.

The defeat is set to trigger more voices of dissent in the Congress and the UDF over the ruling front’s continuing support to scam-tainted Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) chief K M Mani.

Despite a better showing in the Kollam, Kozhikode and Thrissur corporations and an overall improvement across tiers, the BJP failed to strike rich on its recent association with the Ezhava community organisation Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, even in regions considered as SNDP strongholds.