Elections to local bodies (Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations) in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

were held in two phrases, on 2 and 5 November 2015. The

Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of Left-wing politics, left-wing political parties led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the current List of current Indian ruling and opposition parties, r ...

(LDF) won more than half of all gram panchayats and

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, and both they and the United Democratic Front (UDF) won majorities in seven out of fourteen district panchayats each. The LDF also won mayorship in four

corporations A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

and the UDF in two.

Background

Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 made provisions for the creation of local bodies at the village,

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and district levels. The Kerala Municipalities Act, 1994 made provisions for the creation of municipalities and corporations. In total, Kerala has 1200 local self-governing bodies941 gram panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 87 municipalities, 77

taluks A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ce ...

, and 6 corporations.

Parties and coalitions

There are three major political coalitions in Kerala. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is the coalition of left wing and far-left parties, led by the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

(CPI(M)). The United Democratic Front (UDF) is the coalition of centrist and centre-left parties led by the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. The National Democratic Alliance is led by the right-wing

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

Campaign

Chief Minister

Oommen Chandy Oommen Chandy (31 October 1942 – 18 July 2023) was an Indian lawyer and statesman who served as the 10th chief minister of Kerala, serving from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2016. He served also as the Leader of the Opposition, leader of the opp ...

said the election results would be a verdict on his government. Former Chief Minister

A. K. Antony Arackaparambil Kurien Antony (born 28 December 1940) is an Indian lawyer, attorney and statesman who served as the Minister of Defence of India from 2006 to 2014, making him the longest serving Defence Minister in India. He previously served as ...

cited that the local body elections were the semifinals to the forthcoming

2016 elections Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 April 2016 Djibouti * 2016 Djiboutian presidential ...

. Allegations of the finance minister of the state K. M. Mani accepting bribes from bar owners was made a focal point of the campaign by opposition parties. The

(BJP) forged an alliance with

SNDP The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party ( ; abbreviated SNDP), also known as the White Tiger Party or Kya Phyu Party is a political party in Myanmar (Burma). Unlike the similarly named Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), the party ...

in a bid to win the

Ezhava The Ezhavas, () also known as ''Thiyya'' or ''Tiyyar'' () in the Malabar region, and Chovar () in the south, are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as Kerala, where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the po ...

community votes. UDF had rebel candidates in various panchayats and municipalities.

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

, an organisation backed by Kitex Group contested in Kizhakkambalam grama panchayat.

Result

Local Body Wise Results

Ward-Wise Results

Aftermath

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V. M. Sudheeran said that the results show that the UDF base had not been affected much. BJP state president V. Muraleedharan stated that it was impossible to fight an election in Kerala without taking their alliance into account. Twenty20 won 17 of 19 seats in Kizhakkambalam gram panchayat, thereby becoming the first corporate-ruled local body in Kerala. An Indian National Congress candidate for

Mananthavady Mananthavady is the Grade 3 municipality in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India. The municipal boundaries are defined by Tirunelli Panchayat to the north, Kabani River to the east and south, and Thavinhal Panchayat to the west. Mananthavady i ...

municipality, who was the Congress District Committee secretary, committed suicide after coming in third place.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Kerala local

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