Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF)'s desire to rule Kerala for another term is on solid ground if the votes polled by each front at the grama panchayat, municipality and corporation levels are synchronised to corresponding Legislative Assembly constituencies.
An analysis of the votes polled in the local body elections showed the CPM-led LDF went ahead in 101 Assembly segments out of the 140, while the UDF managed to gain an upper hand in only 38 Assembly constituencies.
Crucially, the NDA continued to maintain its ground in Nemom constituency which had elected Kerala's first BJP MLA in 2016. Besides, NDA emerged second in Manjeshwaram, Kasargod, Kazhakootam, Vattiyoorkavu and Thiruvananthapuram assembly segments and this could pose serious trouble to the Congress in the forthcoming Assembly polls.
The LDF tally in the 2016 Assembly poll was 91 which came down to just 16 assembly segments if the votes secured in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls are considered. The LDF had won only one of the 20 Lok Sabha seats.
Now the LDF has secured 41-42 per cent of the total votes polled in the local body elections. The UDF vote percentage on the other hand came down to 37 percent and NDA ended up with just 14-15 per cent votes.
The LDF made huge gains in central Kerala following their alliance with Kerala Congress (M), while UDF suffered huge setbacks. Besides, the support of Christian communities was decisive, according to CPM's preliminary evaluation of the results.
The LDF camp says they will make all efforts to sustain the gains till the Assembly elections next year.
As the civic poll results came out on Wednesday the LDF cornered more than half of the gram panchayats and most of the district panchayats and block panchayats apart from tightening its grip on almost all the half a dozen corporations.