LDF Wins in Panchayat Bye Elections in Kerala

The Left Democratic Front has registered an emphatic victory in the bye elections to various local bodies held on August 12. LDF has wrested 18 seats out of the total 26 seats for which elections were held. The UDF had to be content with 8 seats only. The LDF won in almost all districts from Thiruvananthapuram in the South to Kannur in the North. LDF candidates won by huge margins in most of the seats, while it lost two seats by single digit margins.

The LDF has wrested the Kolayad Panchayat, in Kannur district and Maranallur Panchayath in Thiruvananthapuram district from the UDF. The LDF also wrested the Kottampally seat in Maranallur where BJP won last time. In the 2010 elections, the UDF won the Kolayad panchayath by a toss due to a tie, as both fronts, the LDF and UDF, had won seven seats each.