Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 13 : In a morale-boosting show ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls, Congress-led UDF on Saturday secured a decisive victory in Kerala’s local body elections, dealing a blow to the LDF while the BJP wrested the city civic body from decades of Left control in what Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as the state politics’ “watershed moment.”
Interestingly, it was the “beauty of democracy” remarks of Congress Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvanathapuram, Shashi Tharoor that took the cake on Saturday as the counting of votes was taken up across the state.
Tharoor said he campaigned for a change from 45 years of the LDF “misrule”, but the voters have ultimately rewarded another party that also sought a clear change in governance.
“That is the beauty of democracy. The people’s verdict must be respected, whether for the UDF overall or for the BJP in my constituency,” Tharoor said.
A year after getting its first MP from the southern state known for its largely left of the Centre politics and dominated by the Congress and CPI (M) led blocs, the BJP wrested Thiruvananthapuram Corporation from the CPI (M), breaching the 45 year-old stronghold of the Left party.
The victory opened up the possibility of BJP getting its first Mayor in Kerala, with the state’s first woman IPS officer, 64 year-old R Sreelekha being tipped for the post.
While the opposition highlighted the Sabarimala gold loss and other governance-related issues that swayed the voters away from the CPI (M)-led LDF, the ruling party announced introspection, with months to go for the general elections.
The UDF’s campaign, which focused on a range of issues, including the politically sensitive Sabarimala gold missing case, seems to have resonated with voters across urban and rural landscapes.
The coalition won control of a majority of municipal corporations, municipalities, block panchayats, and gram panchayats, marking a clear shift in local governance.
The final results of the local body polls, which were held in two phases in the state earlier this week, came as a huge setback for the LDF, which lost control of four out of the five municipal corporations where it was in power.
These included the Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam Corporations, where the Left ruled for 45 and 25 continuous years, respectively.
The Left lost the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation to the BJP-led NDA, which stormed to victory with 50 seats, one shy of a clear majority, and the Kollam Corporation to the UDF, which has the highest number of seats there but is two short of a majority.
Following the NDA victory in the state capital, PM Modi termed it a “watershed moment” in Kerala’s politics and expressed gratitude to the BJP workers for the “spectacular results.”
Retired DGP Sreelekha’s victory from the Sasthamangalam ward in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation has sparked speculation that she will be selected as Mayor of the city.
While the NDA won the Thiruvananthapura corporation, the UDF increased its seats in the local body as compared to the 2020 polls.
This year, the UDF also won 54 of the 87 municipalities, 4 of the 6 corporations, and was significantly ahead in the village, block, and district panchayat segments.
In the 2020 civic polls, it had won a total of 7757 wards in the grama, block, district panchayats, municipality and corporation put together.
This time it holds a commanding lead in the three-tier panchayat system, leading in 8,020 of the 17,337 grama panchayat wards, 1,241 of the 2,267 block panchayat wards, and 195 of the 346 district panchayat wards.
On the other hand, the LDF suffered significant losses at all levels, as compared to its performance in the 2020 civic polls. The outcome will force it to rethink its strategy ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections.
The results also indicated that the LDF’s recent welfare measures–hike in the social security and welfare pensions, higher honorariums for ASHA workers, and a new women’s security scheme, among many other financial packages announced just before the civic polls, did not impress the voters.
Left veteran and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan conceded that the LDF did not achieve the expected results. He said it will move forward by examining in detail the reasons for the same and taking corrective measures.
The NDA’s victory in the capital city and the alleged influence of communalism in the election campaign were worrying for those who believe in secularism, he added.
CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan admitted the outcome was an “unexpected setback” for the party, but said that it will evaluate the results and take corrective measures.
The Left front’s campaign targeting the UDF by raising the sexual harassment allegations against expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, failed to dent the opposition bloc’s prospects.
Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, was of the view that the LDF’s “communal politics” and public resentment against the Vijayan government led to its defeat.
BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the party had made major gains in the local body elections, claiming that it received more than 20 per cent of the votes across Kerala.
He termed it as the people’s reply to corruption, issues related to Sabarimala and inefficiency of the government, adding that “the days of the LDF are over”.
