Thiruvananthapuram:
With barely 6 months to go for assembly polls in Kerala, the ruling Left Front (LDF) has received a setback in the local body polls today. It lost 2 city corporations to the opposition, Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) which made major gains in municipalities and panchayats considered to be traditional Left strongholds.
The LDF lost Kochi and Thrissur corporations but managed to retain power with a wafer-thin margin in Thiruvananthapuram, and held sway over Kollam city civic body with a comfortable majority. In 2005, the LDF had swept all the 5 municipal corporations in the state.
In an outcome that confirmed the trend of last year's Lok Sabha polls when the UDF won 16 of the 20 seats, the UDF maintained a clear edge in village, block and district panchayts.
The Congress has got a landslide victory. Never in the history of Kerala, have we had such a victory," Ramesh Chennithala, the President of the Kerela Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) said.
The UDF swept the municipalities in Malappuram, Kottayam and Idukki district and also put up an impressive performance in Ernakulam, Wayanad and Kasargode. The LDF also suffered a crushing blow in the prestigious Kochi corporation conceding power to UDF after a gap of 28 years. In the 74-member corporation, UDF grabbed 46 seats, the LDF 23, BJP two and others three. In neighbouring Thrissur corporation, the UDF routed the LDF, bagging 45 of the 55 seats.
UDF trounced the ruling front in Christian and Muslim dominated areas, seen widely as a rejection of LDF's vehement campaign over issue of 'interference' of religion in politics.
"If you compare the results of this election with that held 5 years ago, of course there is an element of setback in the LDF performance," MA Baby, Kerala's Education Minister conceded.
A distinct feature of the local body elections this time is that 50 per cent of the over 21,000 seats are reserved for women in the multi-tier local self-government bodies.
The Chief Minister had said that this election will be a referendum of the four-and-a-half years of Left rule in Kerala. Today, VS Achuthanandan said UDF owed its victory to the "communal campaign it unleashed" in elections. "Their victory is only temporary," he said. (with PTI inputs)