CPI(M) calls Kerala local bypoll results a boost for the LDF
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan has described Kerala’s local body bypoll results as evidence of a political recovery for the Left Democratic Front. He said the LDF increased its seats to 18 across 38 wards and argued that voters had rejected the Congress-led government’s performance.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has described Kerala’s local body bypoll results as the beginning of a political comeback for the Left Democratic Front. CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said the results across 38 wards in 12 districts reflected public disapproval of the 40-day-old Congress-led United Democratic Front government.
At a press conference, Govindan said the LDF had increased its vote share, even in wards it did not win. He said the LDF’s seat tally had risen to 18 while the UDF had lost three sitting seats. He attributed the result to issues including daily power cuts, controversies over sponsored foreign trips, ministers’ free air travel funded by anonymous entities, the rising cost of living and problems in the public health sector.
These were presented as reasons for what he called a voter rebuke to the V.D. Satheesan government. Govindan also criticised the UDF’s response to settler farmers facing possible eviction linked to the BJP-led Central government’s proposed restrictions on human activity and development in ecologically sensitive areas.
He said the issue had affected the UDF in hilly districts that had supported it in the Assembly polls. He cited the CPI(M)’s victory in the Thrikkodithanam division of the Kottayam district panchayat, where Manju Sujith defeated the UDF by 2,140 votes. The seat had become vacant after Congress’s Vinu Jacob was elected to the Assembly.
Govindan alleged an understanding between the Congress and BJP in one Thiruvananthapuram division, pointing to a fall in the BJP’s vote share alongside an increase for the UDF. He also said the results suggested the IUML was losing some traditional support to the LDF and showed voters had accepted the CPI(M)’s internal rectification process.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.