- LDF made gains; bypolls tested the UDF government.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) suffered a setback in Kerala’s local body bypolls, losing several sitting wards despite emerging as the largest bloc in the 38 seats contested. The UDF won 18 wards, while the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) secured 16. The BJP-led NDA won one seat and three wards went to independent candidates, according to State Election Commission figures. The results mark the first local electoral test for the UDF government led by Chief Minister V D Satheesan after its recent Assembly victory.
UDF Loses Four Seats
The UDF lost four of the seats it had previously held. Two of these were in the Chirayinkeezhu Assembly constituency, where Congress MLA Ramya Haridas had won the Assembly election.
According to PTI reports cited in the source material, some Congress workers were recently subjected to disciplinary action following a dispute involving Haridas and local party leaders. The developments are being viewed as one possible factor in the outcome.
The results varied across districts. The UDF won all the wards contested in Pathanamthitta, while in Ernakulam, traditionally considered a Congress stronghold, it secured two of the four wards. In Kottayam, the UDF won two of three wards.
LDF Makes Gains
The LDF made notable gains in Palakkad, winning four of the seven wards contested there. The Left has also been attacking the UDF government over issues including shortages of medicines in government hospitals.
The UDF retained wards in Pallikkal division of Mananthavady in Wayanad and Kuttichira in Kozhikode. However, its winning margins in both wards were only a few hundred votes, compared with margins of more than 1,000 votes in previous elections, according to reports.
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Turnout At 58.81%
The bypolls recorded a turnout of 58.81%, with 182,160 voters casting ballots. Kannur recorded the highest turnout at 84.55%, while Kottayam had the lowest at 54.24%.
The elections were held across 38 local-body wards in 12 districts, with Kollam and Alappuzha excluded. A total of 126 candidates contested the polls. The wards included seats in corporations, municipalities, district panchayats, block panchayats and gram panchayats.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com
