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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