The 2020 Kerala Local Body Poll results delivered some unlikely results in certain wards on Wednesday. While the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) had a big win in this year’s civic polls, all three fronts — the LDF, UDF and the NDA — suffered some significant losses in certain wards. Here are some big losses from the Kerala local body polls 2020.
Kallamala ward: The UDF, for example, lost in Kallamala ward of the Vadakara Block Panchayat (Kozhikode). The loss is notable as Kallamala is the birthplace of Congress leader and KPCC (Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee) President Mulappally Ramachandran. In early December, Mulappally and the rest of the Congress party, especially MP K Muraleedharan, had a scuffle over which candidate to field in this ward. While the KPCC president picked his protege KP Jayakumar as the Kallamala candidate, the UDF chose C Sugathan master, a candidate from its ally, the Revolutionary Marxist Party of RMP. Following a split in opinion within the party, Mulappally decided to withdraw KP Jayakumar’s candidacy in the ward to take on the LDF candidate in the ward.
However, Wednesday’s results show that the LDF won Kallamala with CPI(M)’s advocate Ashish securing the seat with 3,543 votes. UDF’s Sugathan master came second after securing 2,135 votes.
Thripperumthura ward: Meanwhile, in the Chennithala Thripperumthura grama panchayat in Alappuzha, the LDF won in Thripperumthura, which is Leader of Opposition in Kerala, Ramesh Chennithala’s ward. LDF candidate K Vinu won after securing 654 votes while UDF candidate Arun Kuruvikad trailed with 195 votes.
Puthuppally panchayat: In a massive rout, the LDF wrested Kottayam’s Puthuppally Panchayat from the UDF. It was UDF’s stronghold for the last 25 years. Puthupally is also the hometown of Congress leader and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The LDF won seven divisions while the UDF won six and the BJP won three divisions. Two LDF-backed candidates also won in the panchayat. In the 2015 local body elections, Congress swept Puthupally after winning 11 divisions in the panchayat.
Thiruvananthapuram Mayor K Sreekumar, Karikkakam ward: While the LDF swept most of the state, in Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation’s Karikkakam ward, LDF candidate and Thiruvananthapuram Mayor K Sreekumar lost to BJP’s Kumaran Nair. While Kumaran Nair secured 24,88 votes, K Sreekumar secured 2,372 votes.
S Suresh, Venganoor division: The NDA suffered another blow in Thiruvananthapuram after BJP State Secretary S Suresh was defeated in the election after contesting from the Venganoor division of the Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat. The senior BJP leader lost to Bhagat Rufus of LJD (Loktantrik Janata Dal).
S Suresh was defeated by over 2,000 votes this time. In 2010 local body polls, too, he contested from the same seat and faced defeat. The loss is a big one for the BJP as Venganoor is the only sitting seat of the BJP in the Thiruvananthapuram block panchayat.
B Gopalakrishnan, Kuttankulangara division: In Thrissur, BJP state spokesperson and the party’s Mayor candidate B Gopalakrishnan was defeated in the local body polls. Gopalakrishnan had contested from BJP’s sitting seat at Kuttankulangara division of Thrissur Municipal Corporation. The BJP had fielded crucial candidates, expecting a victory by breaking the UDF-LDF bipolar politics. However, the NDA only secured six seats in the Thrissur Corporation this year.