The ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front suffered major reverses in the local bodies polls of Kerala, with voters favouring the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front even in traditional Left strongholds.
Celebrations broke out in the Opposition camp when the results were declared on Wednesday with the UDF wresting the prestigious Kochi and Thrissur corporations from the LDF and securing 39 municipalities. The LDF had to struggle to maintain its majority in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and had to be content with 20 municipalities.
In the villages too, there was a clear wave in favour of the UDF with the Opposition winning 448 gram panchayats as against 372 in the LDF kitty.
In the last local bodies’ polls of 2005, the LDF had won all the five corporations, 33 municipalities and 725 of the 970-odd gram panchayats. This was followed by its sterling victory in the Assembly polls a year later. If that trend is any indication, the LDF is in for big trouble in the Assembly elections scheduled for next year. A cursory view of the poll results reveals that the LDF has got a major battering in almost all districts of the state except Kollam, Palakkad and Kannur.
Putting on a brave face, the chief minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan, said that the UDF secured victory with the aid of communal forces. “This trick will not work all the time,” he said, while denying that the poll verdict was a referendum of his rule. The CPI(M) state secretary, Mr Pinarayi Vijayan, also claimed that the LDF had improved its position when compared with the 2009 Lok Sabha polls when it got only four seats. Meanwhile, the KPCC chief, Mr Ramesh Chennithala, asked the LDF government to quit and seek a fresh mandate in the wake of its “crushing” defeat.
Despite its bravado, the results are perturbing for the LDF. The frequent attacks on the church by the CPI(M) had triggered a backlash in mid-Kerala and the results from north Kerala indicate a Muslim consolidation in favour of the UDF.
At the same time, the CPI(M) attempt to woo the majority community also seems to have come a cropper.
Politically, the UDF seems to have been strengthened by the entry of the Socialist Janata, a refurbished version of the Janata Dal (Secular), and the Kerala Congress (Joseph), both of which left the LDF in ignominy.