The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has recorded impressive initial leads in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, where it is leading in 22 wards, amidst the Kerala local body elections in the current vote count. By comparison, the governing Left Democratic Front (LDF) is winning in 16 wards, the congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in 11 wards. Thiruvananthapuram Corporation consists of 101 wards all, and a party or alliance should have a minimum of 52 wards to get a majority.
These early trends are being interpreted to be a great boost to the BJP that has been making every effort over the last 10 years to gain a footing and win power in the main urban local body of Kerala capital. A better performance at Thiruvananthapuram is a symbolic performance on a part of the party since it has hitherto had little presence in the state in terms of electoral activity.
In the meantime, even minor problems have been reported in certain counting centres in Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Vadakara. A news agency reported that it received complaints of entry restriction of booth agents and candidates at some places but the entire counting process was proceeding.
The Kerala 1,199 local bodies voting was done in two phases and the counting of the votes started at 8 am on Saturday. It began by counting the postal ballots and then voting was done on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Authorities have said that the final outcome will be achieved before the day is through.
It is being done in 244 counting centres and 14 district collectorates all over the state. The result of these local body elections is under close observation because it is likely to provide important political indications prior to the Kerala Assembly elections which is due in 2026.
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