Thrissur: The UDF won three of the five seats contested in the local body byelections in Thrissur district, while the LDF retained the remaining two.

The UDF wrested the Kurumala ward in Chelakkara panchayat from the LDF. UDF candidate Rajitha Nechikkottile defeated LDF candidate Balakrishnan by 73 votes.

The byelection was necessitated after CPM member P N Ramachandran resigned. In the previous local body elections, Ramachandran had won the ward and later voted for the UDF candidate in the panchayat president election, triggering a political controversy before his resignation.

The UDF victory has strengthened its position in the Chelakkara panchayat, taking its tally to 13 while the LDF's strength has fallen to 11.

The UDF also retained Ward 24 of Chalakudy municipality. UDF candidate V O Pailappan defeated LDF candidate Lijo Louis by 345 votes. The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of Congress councillor Biju S Chirayath, who contested the Assembly election as an LDF candidate.

The UDF retained the closely watched Thali division of Wadakkanchery Block Panchayat. UDF candidate Ravindran Thichoor defeated LDF candidate K S Vijayavalsalan by 170 votes.

In the previous local body elections, IUML candidate Jaffer Kottupuram of the UDF had won the division. His decision to vote for the LDF candidate in the block panchayat president election had triggered a controversy. Jaffer later resigned following protests, leading to the byelection.

Following the UDF's victory, the UDF and LDF now have seven members each in the block panchayat.

The LDF retained Ward 13 of Thalikulam panchayat. LDF candidate Viji Krishna Ghosh won by 29 votes, with BJP candidate Sandeep Anthikkad finishing second and UDF-backed RMP candidate Baiju Nambi Kariyat third. Sandeep had lost the previous election by just five votes.

The byelection followed the death of CPM member E V Krishna Ghosh, who had won the ward in the previous local body elections. Viji, who won the byelection, is his wife.

The LDF also retained the Edathirinji division of Vellangallur Block Panchayat by a margin of 1,247 votes. CPI candidate V R Ramesh defeated NDA candidate Bijoy Kalarikkal, while UDF candidate E N Sreenath finished third. The byelection was necessitated by the death of LDF member Babu Chingarath, who had won the division in the previous local body elections.