Kerala Local Body election results 2020: Who won in 2015

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 16: The counting of votes for the hotly-contested local body elections in Kerala is progressing. The elections would be an opportunity for all three political fronts - CPM-led LDF, Congress-led UDF and the BJP-led NDA to demonstrate their strength at the grassroot level.

These polls are a useful barometer of the direction of the political winds in the state as it head into Assembly elections next year.

The elections were conducted in three phases earlier this month, saw an impressive turnout close to 76 per cent, bypassing the restrictions and limitations of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is quite relevant to place the elections this year in the context of what happened in 2015 and the political configuration then.

In 2015, the CPM-led Left Democratic Front made a splash in the polls winning a larger number of panchayats, block panchayats and corporations than the prime challenger -- Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

LDF won big by taking control of 551 of the 941 village panchayats, 42 of 86 municipalities, 7 of 14 district panchayats, 88 of 152 block panchayats and 4 out of the 6 corporations.

But when it came to municipalities, the UDF had a slight edge. In the 14 district panchayats, both fronts shared power of seven district panchayats each.

The UDF came second by getting reins of 362 panchayats, 7 district panchayats, 2 corporations, 40 municipalities and 63 block panchayats. The BJP could come to power only in 14 panchayats and 1 municipality.

In terms of vote-share, the two fronts were not separated by a lot. The LDF had 37.36 per cent and the UDF 37.23 per cent.

The BJP-led NDA showed its strength in key urban bodies like Trivandrum corporation and Palakkad municipality, but fared poorly in rural areas. It had 13.28 per cent.