Congress, allies sweep Kerala civic poll; BJP leads in capital

Kerala's Congress party-led United Democratic Front (UDF) achieved a remarkable victory in the civic polls held this week, securing a decisive majority in the three-tier local governments across the state.

- Ashraf Padanna | AM Abdussalam

The UDF won 383 of the 941 village councils, while the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), secured 238.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, finished a distant third with just five village councils, while other parties won four.

All three fronts are engaged in intensive lobbying to attract independent candidates, as none has a clear majority in 310 village councils, according to initial data from the State Election Commission.

In the 152 block councils, the UDF won 75, the LDF 53, and the NDA none. In 24 block councils, no party achieved a clear majority.

Among the 14 district councils, both the UDF and the LDF claimed victory in six each, while no coalition held a clear majority in two.

The UDF took control of 40 of 87 municipalities, leaving 16 to the LDF, while 31 ended in hung councils with no clear winner.

In the six city corporations, the UDF managed to retain one (Kannur) and wrested two (Kochi and Thrissur) from the LDF, while no group held a majority in the remaining three.