Repeating the landslide victory of the last Parliament elections, Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had a thumping win in the local body elections in Kerala.
UDF now has a clear majority in Kochi and Thrissur city corporations which were earlier held by the Left Democrativ Front (LDF), while the latter has won majority seats in Kollam corporation and a comfortable lead in Thiruvananthapuram city. In 2005, LDF had won all the five city corporations of the state.
With the assembly election on the horizon, the UDF victory is seen as indicating the latest political trends in the state. Results of the local body elections clearly indicate a shift in the voting pattern deviating from 2006 polls. In the local body elections of 2005, LDF had a big win and it had won 100 seats out of the total 140 assembly seats in the 2006 elections.
The counting of votes for Kozhikode city corporation will be held on October 31 as re-polling is scheduled in some divisions a day before that.
UDF has a majority in Thrissur corporation where out of the total 55 seats, the front won 45 seats and LDF 6. The UDF will be in the driving seat in Kochi corporation, the commercial capital of the state, after a gap of 30 years. The Congress-led front has won 47 seats out of 74 divisions. LDF won 23. Many of the UDF candidates won their seats with a big majority, in some areas pushing the left front candidates to the third position.
In Kollam, LDF has a clear majority by winning 32 out of the 51 divisions, while UDF won 17 divisions. In Thiruvananthapuram, 47 seats out of the total 100 went to LDF while UDF won 40 and BJP 4.
Out of the 59 municipalities in the state, UDF had a big win in 39, leaving LDF behind with 18 municipalities. In the last local body elections, the left front had won 35 municipalities.
The UDF victory is more prominent and strong in the central and northern districts of Kerala while LDF has a sigh of relief in southern districts like Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram.
Counting of votes is in full swing in village, block and district panchayats and final results are expected by night. According to latest reports from various counting stations across the state, UDF is having a clear lead in a large majority of seats. Out of the 14 district panchayat, UDF is leading in 8, and the left front in 5.
Of the 140 block panchayat, LDF is leading in 69 and UDF in 65. There is neck and neck fight in village panchayat, where UDF is leading in 394 of the total 903 and LDF is leading in 373. BJP has an edge in 19 village panchayat.
It is also interesting to note that the left front had a rude shock in the city / town areas where UDF managed almost a clean sweep, while in rural areas the setback is moderate.
