Kerala Local Body Polls: UDF Secures Decisive Win, BJP Gains in Thiruvananthapuram

India Today

A speaker analyses the recent Kerala local body election results, highlighting a decisive win for the Congress-led UDF. The commentary notes that this victory places the UDF in a strong position ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, comparing the current trend to the 2010 results. The speaker also points out a significant achievement for the BJP in capturing the Thiruvananthapuram municipality, marking a breach in a traditionally LDF-dominated area. The discussion suggests this result is a major setback for the ruling LDF after ten years in power, indicating strong anti-incumbency sentiments. However, a warning is issued to the Congress party against overconfidence, citing recent political examples where early advantages were lost due to internal conflicts.

Transcript

00:00And joining us live is India. Today is Rajdeep Sardesai.

00:03Rajdeep, if you look at these results from the angle or the lens of the upcoming assembly elections,

00:11what are your main points that you would like to highlight here?

00:15Firstly, Anjali, the main point that I would like to highlight is not being seen in your flashes or in your headline.

00:21The main point is there's a decisive, clear win for the UDF.

00:25I know that the BJP is claiming victory because of what happened in Thiruvananthapuram, but let's be very clear.

00:31The big picture is that the party number one, by a fairly substantial margin in these local body polls,

00:37has been the Congress-led UDF, which puts them in poll position ahead of the assembly elections next year.

00:43It's very interesting, Anjali. The last time the UDF scored or the Congress-led UDF scored in an election in Kerala in the local bodies was 2010.

00:52And then in the year that followed, they won the assembly polls.

00:56Both in 2015 and 2020, the LDF, the left, dominated the election.

01:01So the big story, the first big takeaway, which is not there on your screen or your flashes,

01:06is that the Congress-led UDF is the one which has dominated.

01:10The BJP has breached and scored an important win in Thiruvananthapuram.

01:15This is not the first time that the BJP has been growing in Thiruvananthapuram,

01:18but this time they have scored a major win by capturing the municipality.

01:22And that will raise several questions, particularly for the LDF,

01:26which has dominated the local body elections in Thiruvananthapuram for several decades now.

01:31And I think the biggest loss, clearly, is that of the LDF.

01:35The LDF has been in power in Kerala for 10 years.

01:38It's a huge setback for them.

01:40Remember, Kerala, Anjali, traditionally, even in assembly polls,

01:43had five-year switches between the UDF and the LDF until Pindrai Vijayan and the LDF broke it last time round.

01:51The BJP's rise clearly shows that people are looking at the BJP in some places as an alternative,

01:57but I underline some places.

01:59The larger picture, clearly, of Kerala is advantage Congress-led UDF,

02:04and it is some good news for a party like the Congress,

02:07which has been struggling in the last 12 months, losing election after election.

02:11It puts them in poll position, but let's put a statutory warning here, Anjali.

02:16You will recall that even in Haryana, the Congress appeared in poll position in 2024

02:21and yet ended up scoring a self-goal.

02:24There are lots of conflicting ambitions in Kerala within the Congress,

02:27and this victory could easily make it overconfident.

02:30But for now, clearly, strong anti-incumbency against the left,

02:34prime beneficiary UDF in Thiruvananthapuram, prime beneficiary BJP.

02:39Absolutely.

02:40And...

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