THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state Congress Core Committee, the highest decision making body constituted by the AICC, has assessed that while strong anti-incumbency against the state government benefited the UDF in the recent local body elections, two key factors, significantly enhanced its performance- the polarisation of Hindu votes in the old Travancore region and Muslim votes in Malabar region. This helped the UDF surpass the LDF after over a decade, it said.
According to party leaders, the Sabarimala gold panel theft case played a decisive role in consolidating the Hindu support for the UDF in Travancore. In Malabar, there was a massive polarization of Muslim minority votes in favour of the UDF.
However, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan cautioned party leaders against complacency, pointing out that that despite the victory, the UDF’s failure to capture power in district panchayats and block panchayats in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha and Thrissur remained a serious setback.
AICC general secretary (organisation) and MP K C Venugopal reportedly told the meeting that trends in local body elections would not necessarily be replicated in the next assembly election.
“The Congress cannot approach the assembly election with overconfidence. It will be entirely different in nature. We must intensify our effort in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process,” he said.
The meeting decided to organise a ‘Chinthan Shivir’ in Sultan Batheri as part of the preparations for the assembly election. Meanwhile, in view of the strong resistance from the Kerala Congress (J), the Congress core committee resolved to take a cautious approach towards Kerala Congress (M), currently with the LDF.
Leaders shared the sentiment that KCM’s exit from the UDF was unfortunate, but agreed to take a wait-and-watch policy. “Let them take their position first.
We will decide accordingly, especially in the backdrop of their serious setbacks. In Kattappana, which is Minister Roshi Augustine’s stronghold, the KCM faced a major blow, and in Idukki district, they failed to come to power in any panchayat,” a leader said.
CWC member Kodikkunnil Suresh urged the leadership to adopt effective social engineering strategies in the 2026 assembly election. “Though many community organisations supported us in the local body elections, we must reach out to communities that did not support us,” he said. KPCC president Sunny Joseph credited the success to united efforts by leaders and workers. Senior leader Ramesh Chennithala also attributed the UDF’s performance to collective action and organisational unity.