Left Front Succeeded in Kerala Local Body Elections

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) -led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has swept the recently concluded local body elections in Kerala. This local election, considered as a semi-final before next year's assembly elections, saw a fierce contest between the LDF and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
The ruling LDF is in a strong position in 514 gram panchayats out of a total of 941 as per the latest update of the State Election Commission. UDF leads in 376 gram panchayats. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is ahead in just 22 gram panchayats across the state.
Similarly, LDF has a clear edge over block panchayats, district panchayats and corporations, while UDF has an edge over municipalities across the state. There are a total of 21,893 wards in 1,200 local self-government bodies including six corporations, 941 gram panchayats, 14 zilla panchayats and 87 municipalities where elections were held in three phases on 8, 10 and 14 December.
A comparison of the 2020 and 2015 election results shows that the LDF has been successful in maintaining its strong position. There is a history of selecting UDF and LDF in every alternate elections in Kerala, be it local body elections or assembly elections. With the LDF being the ruling party, the UDF was expecting a clear lead in the 2020 elections with anti-incumbency reasons. However, for the first time in the last 20 years, the ruling front has won a landslide victory in the local body elections in the state.
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The election campaigns of NDA and UDF focused on the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case this time. However, the LDF had focused on its development work in the state. The UDF and NDA tried to derail several developmental projects of the state government, including the very ambitious housing project Life Mission, which aims to provide safe housing for all.
After the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case, central investigative agencies have been trying to harass the state government. Both the UDF and the BJP-led NDA have taken this as a golden opportunity to harm the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government. However, the election results show that the BJP could not proceed in the state.
In Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, where a close triangular fight between the LDF, UDF and NDA came to the fore before the voting, the Left Front won a clear victory. Out of 100 divisions in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, LDF has secured 51 seats, NDA has 34 divisions, UDF has 10 and others have secured 5 seats. In 2015, LDF won 42 wards in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The BJP alliance still won 34 seats.

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The 2020 local elections saw the LDF in a stronger position than the UDF. The Pala municipality, which has supported the UDF since its formation, where the Left Front has won 17 seats out of 26 wards. The UDF managed to win eight seats and one seat went to the independent candidate. Pala is known as the stronghold of Kerala Congress (Mani). However, before the elections, the Mani faction of Jos of Kerala Congress (Mani) had aligned with the LDF following a political dispute.
Meanwhile, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President Mullappally Ramachandran's stronghold has also turned red. His Block Panchayat Division Kallamala in Kozhikode district has been bagged by CPI (M) Advocate Ashish. The Palpali Panchayat in Kottayam, known as the stronghold of Congress leader and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, has also supported the LDF candidate this time.

 

(With input from news agency language) 

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