The results of the Kerala civic polls are out and the man who should be the most worried about how the state has voted is Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. During the campaign, Chandy had called the local elections a referendum to his government’s rule. And if he was indeed serious about it, then the message is clear, Kerala is unhappy with the United Democratic Front.
The UDF’s likely loss in capital city Thiruvananthapuram is the most telling.
While LDF emerged as the single largest party with 42 seats, the BJP shocked both the LDF and UDF by coming second winning 34 seats. The UDF has been pushed to a third position winning just 21 seats.
Reacting to the verdict Oommen Chandy reiterated that the verdict was an opportunity for his government to study its flaws.
Meanwhile, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has called for introspection.
Out of 941 grama panchayat seats, LDF won 554, UDF 364 and BJP won 14.
The biggest setback for UDF was in corporations, with LDF emerging single largest party in four out of six corporations. Though the BJP could not win any corporation, the party won six seats in Thrissur and 7 seats in Kozhikode. (The party drew a blank in Kozhikode in 2010).
The LDF won 42 municipalities, while the UDF came a close second winning 40 municipalities. BJP meanwhile has emerged as the single largest party in Palakkad municipality.
Election nuggets-
"Local body elections verdict a tight slap on face of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Finance Minister KM Mani," says VS Achuthanandan.
"Victory in Pala proves that bar scam have not affected the polls" Finance Minister KM Mani, Pala is his constituency.
"Results are the perfect answer to people who neglected BJP," says V Muraleedharan, state BJP chief.
"We accept people's verdict, we could not achieve what UDF hoped for," KPCC chief VM Sudheeran.
The BJP is leading in a majority of seats in Palakkad municipality.
AIADMK has opened its account in Kerala by winning a ward in Idukki.
The BJP candidate came third in Vellapally Natesan's ward, in spite of the party aligning with SNDP.
Former CM EK Nayanar's daughter Usha Praveen lost from Ravipuram division in Kochi.
MV Raghavan's daughter MV Girija lost from Kannur.
Updates to follow