Congress-led UDF winning streak continues in Kerala, ruling CPI-M-led Left suffers reversal

Thiruvananthapuram: The winning streak of the Congress-led UDF Opposition in Kerala continues in elections.

At the 31 by-elections held across the state in various local bodies, for which results came on Wednesday, the Congress-led UDF won 17, the CPI-M-led Left won 11 and the BJP-led NDA won in three wards.

The Congress-led UDF regained four seats, which was previously held by the Left.

Consequent to the 17 wins for Congress-led UDF, they will regain control of three panchayaths in Palakkad, Idukki and Thrissur districts.

Incidentally, this winning streak is an extension of what happened first in the April Lok Sabha polls when the UDF won 18 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats, with the BJP and CPI-M winning one each.

Then came the three by-elections held last month and Congress candidate Priyanka Gandhi had a staggering win at Wayanad, bettering her brother’s winning margin of 3.60 lakh to 4.10 lakh.

Likewise, at the Palakkad Assembly by-election, the Congress candidate won raising the margin from around 4,000 votes to over 18,000 votes.

At the Chelakkara Assembly constituency, the margin of the CPI-M candidate came down from over 39,000 votes to less than 13,000 votes.

Even though victory at Wayanad and Palakkad was certain, the increased margin in these constituencies and the slide in the victory margin of the CPI-M candidate at Chelakkara had sent shockwaves to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left government.

Even though the Left tried to put a brave face stating that the UDF just retained their seats, the discussions in the ongoing CPI-M party meetings, there has been criticisms against the style of functioning of Vijayan.

Congratulating the workers of the Congress-led UDF, Leader of Opposition V. D.Satheesan said that this victory is a clear sign of what’s in store at the upcoming elections to all the local bodies next year.

“People have now realised that the Vijayan government is a big burden to the state and the people. The Opposition has for a while been saying that people will do everything they can to show their dissent against the misrule of Vijayan and this is evident from the recent poll outcomes,” said Satheesan.