Kerala civic election: LDF blames minority consolidation for loss

REJECTING anti-incumbency factor, the CPM and the CPI - the two leading partners in the LDF -have blamed minority consolidation in favour of the Opposition UDF and cross voting by the Congress and the BJP in select areas for the drubbing suffered by the ruling front in the local body polls.

- K S SREEJITH @T'Puram

Based on preliminary reports from the district leaderships, the CPM state secretariat assessed that the Christian community deserted the LDF in the four central Kerala districts of Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Idukki, while the Muslim votes worked against it in the Malabar region.

It attributed LDF's setback in Thiruvanathapuram and Kollam corporations to cross-voting between the Congress and the BJP.