Setback For UDF In Kerala Local Body Bypoll

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala suffered a setback in its first major electoral test just 100 days after the V. D. Satheesan government assumed office.

The bypoll was held on Monday.

In by-elections held for 38 local body wards across 12 of the state’s 14 districts, the UDF won 19 seats, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) secured 18, and the Twenty20 party took one. The LDF wrested seven wards from the UDF, including two vacated by UDF MLAs after they were elected to the state Assembly in the previous elections. One of these was the Thrikodithanam seat in Kottayam district panchayat, which fell vacant after sitting member Vinu Jo Kuzhimannil became the MLA from Changanassery. The LDF’s Manju Sujith won it by a margin of 2,140 votes.

Another setback came in Palakkad, where Sumesh Achuthan, the UDF MLA who had vacated the Paruthikavu ward of Chittoor-Thathamangalam municipality to contest the Assembly polls, saw the seat go to the LDF’s V. Thulaseedharan. Both candidates polled 433 votes each, and Thulaseedharan won through a draw of lots.

The UDF retained the Kuttichira ward in Kozhikode Corporation, but its victory margin slumped sharply from 2,273 votes (secured by Fathima Thahaliya, now an MLA, in 2025) to just 436. The LDF also found reason to cheer in Kannur district, where it had suffered a major setback in the recent Assembly elections. It wrested the Bavodu East ward — which falls in Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan’s Dharmadom constituency — from the UDF, and also won the Uruvachal ward in Mattannur municipality. In Thiruvananthapuram district, the LDF captured the Mundakkal (Mangalapuram) and Anchuthengu wards from the UDF. Overall, the LDF made gains in Kannur, Kottayam, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram districts, while the UDF recorded stronger performances in Idukki, Thrissur and Pathanamthitta. Voter turnout in the bypolls stood at 58.81 per cent, with 1,82,160 people casting their votes.