Thiruvananthapuram: The recently concluded elections to the local self-government bodies in Kerala indicated the enduring popularity of the CPM at the grass roots. The Left Democratic Front alliance led by the party humbled the rival political grouping, the United Democratic Front, for the elections to civic bodies at various levels - from cities to villages across the length and breadth of the state. As the polling data was compiled and assessed by the state election commission, the LDF was seen ahead of the UDF by just 5.40 lakh votes, but managed to come to power in many civic bodies.
The data reveals the LDF secured a total of 84.84 lakh votes in the three categories of local bodies, while the Congress-led UDF was close behind with 79.07 lakh votes. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) polled 31.65 lakh votes.
The votes polled by independent candidates backed by the alliances or the parties have not been included in the data.
CPM tops tally
CPM secured a total of 56.28 lakh votes in these three local bodies, while the Congress polled 53.27 lakh votes. There is a difference of nearly three lakh votes between the two parties. NDA got 31.65 lakh votes of which BJP alone secured 31.18 lakh votes.
The second biggest constituent in the LDF, the CPI secured 14.59 lakh votes while the new entrant Kerala Congress (Mani) got 5.34 lakh votes coming third in the ruling coalition.
Muslim League which is the second biggest party in UDF alliance, secured 19.09 lakh votes, while the Kerala Congress (Joseph) which stays with the front, got 4.19 lakh votes. RSP polled 1.71 lakh votes.
In NDA, the second biggest ally BDJS could secure only 26,336 votes.
In panchayats, the CPM polled a total of 47.66 lakh votes, while the Congress got 45.06 lakh votes and the BJP 22.39 lakh votes.
As the civic poll results came out last week, the LDF secured more village panchayats, block panchayats and district panchayats than the UDF. It was slightly behind the LDF in the municipal elections, but secured all but one corporation in the state.
