The Opposition United Democratic Front got an upper hand in the bye-elections held for 28 local body wards in Kerala by winning 13 seats. The ruling Left Democratic Front came close by winning 12 seats. The BJP won two seats while an independent candidate secured one.
Bye-polls to total 28 local body wards of 12 districts were held on Tuesday. In Pathanamthitta district, both the CPI(M) and the Congress won one seat each.
In Alappuzha, CPI(M) won the wards in the Arukutty and Pathiyur gram panchayats, while the Congress won the seats in Pulikkunnu and Devikulangara wards.
Poovathilapp in Akalakunnam gram panchayat in Kottayam was won by the Congress's ally in the UDF - Kerala Congress (M).
CPI(M) candidate won the seat in Nalpamattam in Vijayapuram gram panchayat while BJP won the LF Church ward in Vaikom municipality in the district.
In Idukki and Ernakulam districts, Congress won the lone seats to which the bye-elections were held respectively, in Vandanmed and Malayattur gram panchayats.
In Thrissur district, Congress and BJP won one seat each while in Palakkad, both Congress and CPI(M) won one seat each.
Congress's ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) won the lone seat to which bye-election was held in Malappuram while CPI(M) secured the lone seat in Wayanad.
In Kozhikode, CPI(M) won four out of the five seats while one seat was bagged by the Congress.
In Kannur, CPI(M) has got both Ramanthali and Kannur Corporation ward seats while IUML secured Thalassery temple ward.
In Kasargode, KC(M), IUML got one seat each while an independent candidate won the Theruvatha ward seat.
The Congress-led UDF lost four of its existing seats, while capturing six from its rival LDF.
In the previous elections held to the local body wards, UDF had won 11 seats while LDF got 14, BJP two and an independent candidate won one seat.