Thiruvananthapuram: The LDF has won 10 of the 18 local body wards that went to the polls on July 18. The LDF had wrested four wards from the UDF, two from Muslim League and two from Congress. The Congress won in seven wards. The BJP, reflecting its gradual surge in South Kerala, won the Ooroottambalam ward in Maranalloor Panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram from the CPM. It is for the sixth consecutive time that the LDF has come up trumps in by-elections held after it came to power. The latest by-elections were also the first held after the LDF completed one year in power. The LDF incursion into Malappuram was a surprise. It is for the first time in history that the Karayil ward in Malappuram had shifted allegiance from Muslim League.
The two Congress wards that the LDF snatched are: Seventh Ward in Kottangal, in Pathanamthitta, and Nongal ward in Kottayam.
By-elections were held in 18 local body wards in 11 districts, this included 13 village panchayat wards in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur, three corporation wards in Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kasargod and two block panchayat wards in Alappuzha and Kannur. The by-elections had a healthy voting percentage of 76.71 percent.
