THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The impressive turnout of people to vote during a pandemic has given a clear mandate to LDF to rule most of the local bodies in the capital district for the next five years.
LDF has retained power in city corporation, three out of four municipalities, district panchayat, 10 block panchayats and 51 grama panchayats.
The most impressive has been the performance in the city corporation where it regained a comfortable majority at the cost of UDF. The LDF got 51 seats while the NDA retained 34 seats.
The UDF camp saw a decline from 21 seats to just 10. The new council will have 52 female members out of 100 wards.
The BJP suffered a major setback in the district panchayat as the party not only lost the lone seat but also its state secretary S Suresh suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a newcomer in Venganoor. Bhagath Rufus of LJD defeated Suresh by 2,064 votes. Bhagath, a 30-year-old engineering graduate, is the son of former district panchayat vice-president Rufus Daniel.
BJP was hopeful of retaining the division as the Venganoor panchayat and its adjacent Pallichal panchayat were ruled by NDA. It is the second defeat for Suresh in the district panchayat elections after the 2010 elections. LDF won 20 seats while UDF retained its six seats. LDF will have 12 woman representatives while UDF will have two out of 26-member district panchayat.
The UDF too has its share of victories this time. It has retained the Kunnukuzhy ward as its candidate Mary Pushpam won against Oleena A G, who was considered a mayor candidate of LDF, by 469 votes. It also managed to win an equal number of seats in the Velland block panchayat.
LDF managed to win the 51 grama panchayats while the UDF got 18 panchayats (four more compared to 2015) while the NDA retained the four panchayats. The NDA came up with an impressive performance in wresting the Kallikadu panchayat with six seats. The UDF managed with four seats while the ruling LDF could win only three seats. The LDF got seven seats while the UDF had the remaining six seats in 2015. BJP’s Anila S S defeated LDF’s JR Ajitha by 48 votes in Mylakkara ward.