The left front led in 514 grass panchayats, five corporations, and 11 district panchayats, prompting Prime Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to attribute the good show to the people of the state.
LDF workers celebrate victory in Kozhikode # KeralaLocalBodyElection2020 https://t.co/gkP4kQimpo
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The UDF led by the opposition Congress ranked second, leading in more than 400 local organizations.
The left front is also ahead by 108 block panchayats, Vijayan told reporters.
He also used Twitter to thank people for putting their faith in the ruling front.
“Thank you Kerala. Thank you for placing faith in LDF. We are honored by the trust and confidence of the people of Kerala. This is a victory for secularism and inclusive development,” he said.
It was a “victory for the people,” he said, adding that LDF’s performance is a strong response to those who tried to belittle the state’s achievements.
The opposition led by Congress led the UDF in 375 grass panchayats, 44 block panchayats, 45 municipalities and three district panchayats.
The BJP is ahead in 23 grass panchayats and two municipalities, including Pandalam, which was the center of protests against the entry of women from the prohibited age group to the Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine.
The saffron festival was also held in the Palakkad municipality.
Although the BJP failed to put on a spectacular show, it still seemed to improve on its 2015 record, where it won 14 grass panchayats and the only municipality of Palakkad, and if the trends continue, it could almost double its seats this time.
The BJP had previously organized protests across the state against the entry of young women in the 10-50 age group to the sanctuary.
UDF Leaders: KPCC Chairman Mullapally Ramachandran, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that claims that the party-led front had been defeated were unfounded.
The front has not lost ground in any of its traditional strongholds.
The front’s political affairs committee will meet on Thursday to evaluate the results, Ramachandran said, adding that the CPI (M) and the LDF need not rejoice.
They had not sought votes on the development agenda, he said.
Chennithala said that BJP has managed to do well only in a few pockets and has failed to advance and was a “total failure”.
“We have done well in the elections. More than 375 panchayats are with us. The BJP has proven to be a total failure in the state.
Even after using all the influence of the central agencies, the BJP failed. Yes, we had certain issues that we will address, ”he said.
The fight against the “anti-popular” policies of the central and state governments will continue, Chennithala said.
“Compared to local agency polls in 2015, the UDF did better this time. It is true that anti-government sentiments were not seen this time. We will address failure in each panchayat and move forward after correcting mistakes,” he said.
“Apart from Pandalam and Palakkad, BJP has had no impact in Kerala. We will examine the reasons behind the loss of seats in Thiruvnanthapuram,” Chennithala said.
BJP state president K Surendran alleged that the UDF and LDF worked together to defeat his party at Thiruvananthapuram.
The UDF vote percentage has been drastically reduced. Many community organizations have also helped the LDF, he claimed.
The CPI (M) good show at Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is the result of an “unholy nexus” between the left and Congress, he said, adding that the latter had failed to fight the left party. They need to do some introspection, he added.
A convener from Vijayaraghavan, LDF, who also holds the post of secretary of state for the CPI (M), said the poll result showed that people have rejected the “false campaign” against the party and the prime minister.
“Some tried to create controversy from various accusations. Central investigative agencies tried to derail the day-to-day governance of the state. Kerala has never seen such a poisonous campaign. But people rejected all of those and supported the left-wing government,” he said.
The government was going through a very difficult time due to various natural calamities, lack of funds from the Center, and the Covid-19 pandemic. But people saw that the government never allowed such adversities to affect the people, he said.
PK Kunhalikutty, leader of IUML, a member of the UDF, said that the party had preserved its strongholds. The UDF and Congress must introspect the outcome of the elections, he said.
Previously, voting in three phases, according to the strict COVID-19 protocol, was carried out in a total of 21,893 districts in 1,200 local autonomous bodies, including six corporations, 941 village panchayats, 14 district panchayats and 87 municipalities on the 8th. December 10 and 14.
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