Elections to local bodies ( Panchayats,

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

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 ...

) 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 December 2020. Polling took place over 3 days; on 8, 10 and 14 December, with the votes counted and results announced on 16 December. Left Democratic Front (LDF), who also formed the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

, won majorities in more than half of all grama panchayats, two-thirds of district panchayats and in all municipal corporations barring

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

. United Democratic Front (UDF), led by

Indian National Congress (INC) 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 ...

, despite improving its vote share by 0.7% won just three out of fourteen district panchayats and one corporation, in comparison to seven and two respectively in the previous election in 2015. National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...

, increased their tally of wards won and secured a majority in two municipalities and nineteen panchayats.

Background

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

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

and district levels. The Kerala Municipalities Act, 1994 made provisions for the creation of municipalities and corporations. In total, the state has 1200 local self-governing bodies – 941 grama panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 87 municipalities and 6 corporations.

COVID-19 pandemic

An all-party meeting filed a plea in

Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the List of high courts in India, highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Hig ...

to defer the polls, which was set for November 2020, considering the increasing COVID cases. An ordinance by the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the state, which temporarily amended Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, allowed COVID-19 quarantined patients to vote via postal ballots and increases the voting time by two hours.

Parties and coalitions

The LDF is the coalition of left wing and far-left parties, led by the

CPIM 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 ...

. The UDF is a coalition consisting chiefly of centrist and centre-left parties led by the INC. The NDA is led by the BJP.

Twenty20 Kizhakkambalam Twenty20 Kizhakkambalam is an Indian nonprofit charitable organization at Kizhakkambalam in Ernakulam district, Kerala. The prime objective of the organization is to make Kizhakkambalam Grama Panchayat the best Grama Panchayat in India by 2020. ...

, officially a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

formed by Anna Kitex Group, fielded candidates in five panchayats, including in Kizhakkambalam where they had won in 2015. V4 Kochi, an apolitical organisation had 74 candidates contesting in all wards of

Kochi Corporation The Kochi Municipal Corporation is the municipal corporation that governs the Indian city of Kochi in the state of Kerala. The Corporation manages 94.88 km2 of Kochi city and has a population of 677,381 within that area. It is the most densely ...

. KJS, led by

Poonjar Poonjar is a small Indian town located on the eastern side of Kottayam district in Kerala state, India. Before the independence of India, Poonjar had been the part of Travancore princely state. Erattupetta, Teekoy, Bharananganam, and Vagamon are ...

MLA P. C. George, contested independently in four district panchayats, four block panchayats and two grama panchayats in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

district. Thiruvananthapuram Vikasana Munnettam an apolitical organisation contested in 14 wards of

Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, also known as Thiruvananthapuram Central, is the municipal corporation that administrates the city of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala. The city corporation is spread over 214.86 km2 with ...

Previous composition

Local body wise

Ward-wise

Campaign

The president of the Kerala unit of BJP K. Surendran claimed that the incumbent LDF government would face a setback in the election due to the

2020 Kerala gold smuggling case On 5 July 2020, of 24 carat gold worth ₹14.82 crores was seized by Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs at Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic bag that was meant to be delivered to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapur ...

, in relation to which the Chief Minister

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian politician who has served as the List of chief ministers of Kerala, Chief Minister of Kerala since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), politburo ...

's then principal secretary was arrested by

Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...

. The opposition UDF faced several infightings, one among which an alliance partner,

Kerala Congress (M) Kerala Congress (Mani) or KEC(M) is a state-level political party in the Indian state of Kerala, currently led by chairman Jose K. Mani. It was formed by K. M. Mani in 1979, after a split from the Kerala Congress. They are part of the LDF sin ...

, underwent a split with the faction led by

Jose K. Mani Jose Karingozhackal Mani (born 29 May 1965) is an Indian politician and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, MP (Rajya Sabha) and former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, MP (Lok Sabha) from Kerala. He is the son of veteran politician K. M. Mani a ...

joining LDF. BJP faced factionalism between some of its top leaders and the state president.

Voters and polls

Voters list for the election was published on 17 June. The final list was published on 1 October with a supplemental list published on 10 November. As the term of the current members of local bodies end on November 11, three-member administrative committees would be formed and take over administration in each local body, in accordance with Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, and the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994. Kerala High Court dismissed petitions which alleged that reservation of local body constituencies continued for a third successive term citing that the court would not interfere in elections. 1.68 lakh candidates filed nominations to various local bodies, which was dwindled down to 74,899 candidates after the rest were either rejected or withdrawn. In total there are 34,744 polling booths; 29,321 in panchayats, 3,422 in municipalities and 2,001 in corporations. ''Phase I:''

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality, city in southern Kerala, India, spread over an area of . It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37,538 (as of 2011 census). The Hindu pilgrim centre Sab ...

Alappuzha Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

and

Idukki Idukki (ഇടുക്കി; ) is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala in the southwest of the country. It is the largest district in Kerala and lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala. Idukki district co ...

districts ''Phase II:''

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

and

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...

districts ''Phase III:''

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a municipality and town in Kerala and the headquarters of the Malappuram district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Kerala, 4th largest urban agglomeration in Kerala and ...

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

and

Kasaragod Kasaragod () is a municipal town and the administrative headquarters of the Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Kera ...

districts

Result

Popular votes

All of the three major pre-poll alliances in the state increased their vote share compared to that in the previous election. ! class="unsortable" , ! colspan="2", Alliance ! Political party !! Votes !! Vote % !! ± pp , - , colspan=7 bgcolor="", , - , rowspan=12 bgcolor="", !rowspan=12, LDF , ! ''

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 ...

'' !''8,450,430'' !''40.18%'' !''2.82%'' , - , ,

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 ...

, 5,628,188 , 26.71% , , - , ,

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

, 1,459,396 , 6.93% , , - , ,

, 534,759 , 2.54% , , - , , Loktantrik Janata Dal , 293,814 , 1.40% , 1.40% , - , ,

Janata Dal (Secular) {{Infobox Indian Political Party , party_name = Janata Dal (Secular) , party_logo = , colorcode = {{party color, Janata Dal (Secular) , abbreviation = JD(S) , president = H. D. Deve Gowda , founder ...

, 175,613 , 0.83% , , - , ,

Indian National League Indian National League (INL) is an Indian political party formed in 1994 under the leadership of the then IUML leader Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait. The party is currently a member of the CPIM-led LDF in Kerala. INL leader Ahamed Devarkovil, MLA ...

, 139,016 , 0.66% , , - , ,

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the List of political parties in India#State parties, state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra with a recognised state party statu ...

, 132,933 , 0.63% , , - , ,

Congress (Secular) Congress (Secular), is a political party in Kerala, India, it is a residual faction of Indian Congress (Socialist) that was formed in 1978. It is currently a part of Left Democratic Front in Kerala. Timeline In 1980 A. K. Antony part of Co ...

, 45,215 , 0.21% , , - , ,

Kerala Congress (B) Kerala Congress (B) bbr. KC(B)is a registered political party in Kerala, formed by R. Balakrishna Pillai, a former minister of the government of Kerala. At present, the party has one MLA in the state Legislative Assembly, namely K. B. Ganesh ...

, 39,140 , 0.19% , , - , ,

Janadhipathya Kerala Congress Janadhipathya Kerala Congress (JKC) also known as Democratic Kerala Congress, is an Indian political party in Kerala. It was formed on 9 March 2016, through a split from the Kerala Congress (M), KEC(M) History In 2016, before Kerala Legislative ...

, 1,612 , 0.01% , 0.01% , - , ,

Kerala Congress (Skaria Thomas) Kerala Congress (Skaria Thomas) is a political party in Kerala, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the Lis ...

, 744 , 0.00% , , - , colspan=7 bgcolor="", , - , rowspan=9 bgcolor="", !rowspan=9, UDF , ! '' United Democratic Front'' !''7,988,255'' !''37.92%'' !''0.69%'' , - , ,

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 ...

, 5,327,605 , 25.29% , , - , ,

Indian Union Muslim League Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the IUML or Muslim League) is a political party primarily based in Kerala. It is recognised as a List of political parties in India, State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India. After the ...

, 1,909,729 , 9.06% , , - , ,

Kerala Congress (Joseph) Kerala Congress (Joseph) bbr. KEC(J)'' was a political party in the Indian state of Kerala. It was formed in 1964. KEC(J) was the breakaway fraction of Kerala Congress. The party merged with Kerala Congress (KEC). History Kerala Congress (J ...

, 419,049 , 1.99% , 1.99% , - , , Revolutionary Socialist Party , 171,483 , 0.82% , , - , , Communist Marxist Party (John) , 80,304 , 0.38% , , - , , Kerala Congress (Jacob) , 48,448 , 0.23% , , - , ,

All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a Left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a Political faction, faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and was strongest ...

, 19,174 , 0.09% , , - , , Bharatiya National Janata Dal , 12,463 , 0.06% , , - , colspan=7 bgcolor="", , - , rowspan=6 bgcolor="", !rowspan=6, NDA , ! ''

National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

'' !''3,164,454'' !''15.02%'' !''1.74%'' , - , ,

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 ...

, 3,118,249 , 14.80% , , - , , Bharath Dharma Jana Sena , 26,336 , 0.13% , 0.13% , - , , Kerala Kamaraj Congress , 14,358 , 0.07% , , - , ,

Kerala Congress (Thomas) Kerala Congress (Thomas) or Thomas Group was a political party since 2015 to 2016 and a Kerala Congress Fraction Led by P. C. Thomas from 2016 to 2021. After the Permission of using the name as bracket less Kerala Congress in 2016, Thomas d ...

, 4,975 , 0.02% , , - , ,

Lok Janshakti Party The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP, ) was a state political party mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The party was formed in 2000 when Ram Vilas Paswan split from Janata Dal. The party had a considerable following amongst Dalits in Bihar. ...

, 536 , 0.00% , , - , colspan=7 bgcolor="", , - , rowspan=10 bgcolor="", !rowspan=10, Others , ,

Social Democratic Party of India Social Democratic Party of India, popularly known as SDPI, is an Indian political party founded on 21 June 2009 in New Delhi. History The organization was founded by Erappungal Abubacker from Kerala, who was arrested on charges of being ...

, 132,423 , 0.63% , , - , , Twenty 20 , 41,845 , 0.20% , , - , ,

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP) is a political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), along with Religious ...

, 36,284 , 0.17% , , - , ,

Welfare Party of India Welfare Party of India is an Indian Political party of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. Its first National President was Mujtaba Farooq, and other key leaders were Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, Ilyas Azmi, Zafarul Islam Khan, Maulana Abdul Wahab Khilji and ...

, 32,630 , 0.15% , , - , ,

Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) was a registered political party in Kerala, India. It was founded by P. C. George in 2019. It had an Member of Legislative Assembly (India), MLA from the Poonjar (State Assembly constituency), Poonjar constituency. ...

, 27,995 , 0.13% , , - , , Peoples Democratic Party , 26,223 , 0.12% , , - , , Revolutionary Marxist Party of India , 24,899 , 0.12% , , - , ,

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

, 10,539 , 0.05% , , - , ,

Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi ( translation: ''Association for Defence of Democracy'') is a political party in the Indian state of Kerala. The party was formed in 1994 when the CPI(M) leader K.R. Gowri Amma was expelled from Communist Party ...

, 2,140 , 0.01% , , - , , Marxist-Leninist Party of India (Red Flag) , 2,055 , 0.01% , , - , colspan=7 bgcolor="", , - , rowspan=2 bgcolor="", !rowspan=2,

IND Ind or IND may refer to: General * Independent (politician), a politician not affiliated to any political party * Independent station, used within television program listings and the television industry for a station that is not affiliated with ...

, - , , Independents , 1,206,878 , 5.73% , , - ! colspan=7 , , - class="unsortable" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , ! colspan = 4, Total ! 21,068,782 !! 100.00% !

Local body wise

Ward-wise

Aftermath

Result analysis

All of the three major pre-poll alliances, LDF, UDF, and NDA, improved their vote share compared to that in the previous election. The result showed popular support in favour of LDF led government, led by

. Jose K. Mani faction of

, which left UDF to join LDF, performed well in traditional UDF strongholds in

and

districts. UDF improved its position in the districts of

and

Reactions

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hailed his alliance's victory as that of secularism and inclusive development, while remarking that the results were a befitting reply to UDF and BJP. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said that UDF voter base was intact highlighting that they had won more municipalities and mentioned that he would introspect into their poor performance in Thiruvananthapuram corporation. BJP national president J. P. Nadda and state president K. Surendran thanked the voters for providing an improved mandate to their party in the election

TREND software error

The final results of a few panchayats and municipalities were changed due to an error in the TREND software, which was used for displaying election results, as per the State Election Commission. This meant that the lead UDF had over LDF in municipalities was cut from 10 municipalities to 4. The Election Commission published the results in its official website after rectifying the error.

Post-election incidents

LDF won control in 43 municipalities, UDF in 41 and BJP in 2 municipalities. In

Kalamassery Kalamassery () is a major industrial region in the city of Kochi in the state of Kerala, India. It is located around northeast of the city centre. Kalamassery is a major hub for industrial and Information Technology, IT activities in Kochi. In ...

municipality, UDF won control of the municipality by drawing lots, as both they and LDF had equal backing in the administrative council. LDF also controls 11 district panchayats, while UDF got the remaining 3. The latter assumed control of

district panchayat after drawing lots. 21 year old

Arya Rajendran Arya Rajendran S. (born 12 January 1999) is an Indian politician who currently serves as the mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. She was elected from Mudavanmugal ward, belonging to Nemom Assembly Constituency from Communist Party of I ...

became the mayor of Thiruvananthapuram corporation, thereby becoming the youngest ever mayor of a municipal corporation in India. Reshma Mariam Roy, who was the youngest candidate in the elections, became the youngest ever president of a panchayat in Kerala at 21 years old after being elected as the president of Aruvappulam Grama panchayat in

. She had filed her nomination on November 18, days before she turned 21.

Footnotes

References

External links

*http://www.trend.kerala.gov.in/views/index.php {{Authority control 2020 elections in India Local elections in Kerala

Background

COVID-19 pandemic

Parties and coalitions

Previous composition

Local body wise

Ward-wise

Campaign

Voters and polls

Result

Popular votes

Local body wise

Ward-wise

Aftermath

Result analysis

Reactions

TREND software error

Post-election incidents

See also

Footnotes

References

External links