Gap of over 13% in vote share with LDF powered UDF’s landslide win in Kochi Corpn.

A sizeable vote share difference of 13.20% turbocharged the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) landslide victory, enabling it to wrest the power back from its immediate rival Left Democratic Front (LDF), in Kochi Corporation in the just concluded local body polls.

While the UDF amassed 41.45% of the total polled votes, the LDF could only muster 28.25% of the votes, while the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Front ended up a distant third with only 14.45% of the votes. The UDF polled a total of 1.13 lakh votes compared to 77,234 votes and 39,408 votes garnered by the LDF and the NDA, respectively.

The UDF recorded the biggest vote share in Pachalam (74.89%), followed by Panampilly Nagar (63.35%), Perumanoor (63.16%), Thoppumpady (62.45%), Vaduthala West (61.20%), and Mundamveli (60.51%). Besides, in another 18 divisions, it polled in excess of 50% of the total votes polled. This included Fort Kochi (58.99%), Kathrikadavu (56.41%), Stadium (55.90%), Puthiyaroad (55.45%), Vyttila Janatha (54.94%), Dhevankulangara (54.84%), Elamkulam (54.65%), Ayyappankkavu (54.62%), Vennala (54.47%), Kaloor South (54%), Vaduthala East (53.73%), Palluruthy (53.51%), Chalikkavattom (52.64%), Island South (51.92%), Kadavanthra (51.70%), Chakkaraparambu (51.40%), Kaloor North (50.94%), and Thammanam (50.64%). It polled the least in Amaravathy (10.41%), Cheralayi (14.34%) - both seats won by the BJP -and Kadebagham (17.55%).

The LDF was reduced to a single-digit vote share in Cheralayi (5.47%), Island North (7.72%), and Panayappilly (8.34%). Kadebagham (64.80%) division gave it the biggest vote share, while it registered a vote share in excess of 50% in Thazhuppu (54.73%), Nazreth (54.64%), Palluruthy-Kacherippady (53.56%), Palluruthy East (51.72%), and Chakkamadom (51.56%).

While the NDA didn’t field candidates in four - Earaveli, Mattancherry, Chalikkavattom, and Manasserry – out of the 76 divisions in the Corporation, its vote share was restricted to a single digit in 30 divisions, though overall it managed to increase the number of seats from the previous five to six in this election.

The BJP’s biggest vote share of 56.83% was registered in Cheralayi against Independent candidate Shyamala S. Prabhu, who won the division for the party for six consecutive times between 1988 and 2020 before she quit the party ahead of this election. This was followed by Amaravathy (52.75%) and Island North (50.68%).