UDF sweeps Kerala local polls, BJP makes inroads

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) on Saturday swept elections to the rural and urban local bodies in Kerala that are seen as a bellwether for the upcoming assembly elections next year, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered its first win in a municipal corporation in the state in what Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a "watershed moment".

- Vishnu Varma

The elections were conducted in two phases on December 9 and 11 with 73.69% of the 28.6 million voters exercising their franchise to elect their representatives at the grassroots level in grama panchayats (GP), block panchayats (BP), district panchayats (DP), municipalities and municipal corporations (MC).

According to the results published by the State Election Commission (SEC), the UDF won 505 of the 941 GPs, 79 of the 142 BPs, 7 of the 14 DPs, 54 of 87 municipalities and four of the six MCs. The results are a stunning turnaround for the UDF, which had lost to the LDF in the 2020 elections. In the 2021 assembly elections, the UDF lost to the LDF, which retained power in a state that usually alternates between the two political amalgamations. This time, however, the UDF not only retained its traditional bastions in districts like Ernakulam, Kottayam and Malappuram, it also made heavy inroads into Left pocket boroughs in districts such as Kannur and Kozhikode. In Kollam corporation, which has been governed by the LDF since its formation in 2000, the UDF clinched a decisive victory, winning 27 of the 56 wards.