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For years, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) were the chief adversaries in the battles for Varkala, the tourist-friendly coastal municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district that has grappled with persistent development issues. The local body elections in 2020 upset the familiar equations of the contest.
When the results were out, the LDF did manage to lead in the number of seats, but the front’s tally had taken a beating. At the other end, the UDF was unceremoniously shoved to the third spot, yielding the status of the major Opposition party to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the 33-ward council, the BJP increased its tally from a mere three seats in 2015 to 11 in 2020.
The LDF has been in power during the past five years, but only with the help of victorious Independents.
As the 2025 local body elections roll in, what is taking shape in Varkala is a fierce three-cornered contest with the BJP pushing for supremacy and the LDF careful not to lose its weakened grip on the municipality. On its part, the UDF will seek to recover lost ground, but the front continues to be troubled by internal issues, with coalition partners Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) struggling to settle issues over the sharing of seats.
Best known to outsiders for its laterite cliffs and the Papanasam Beach, both major tourist draws, Varkala is situated towards the north of Thiruvananthapuram city, and is one of the four municipalities in the sprawling district.
In the 2015 elections, the CPI(M)-led LDF had wrested the municipality from the UDF by winning 18 of the 33 seats. The CPI(M) had won the majority—17 seats—on its own then, while its ally Communist Party of India (CPI) added one seat to the tally. The UDF, which had seized Varkala with 18 seats in 2010, had to be satisfied with 12 in 2015. After the 2020 elections, the LDF tally slipped to 12 and the UDF’s to seven while the BJP’s rose to 11. Independents held the Puthenchantha, Ramanthali and Perumkulam wards. While CPI(M)’s K.M. Laji held the chairman’s post, the deputy chairperson’s post went to Independent councillor representing Puthenchantha Kumari Sudersini A. For the LDF, the CPI(M) holds 11 seats and the CPI, one. On the UDF side the Congress holds all seven seats.
Poll issues
Development will be high on the poll plank of all three fronts as they get ready for the polls.
Politically, the BJP sees the 2025 elections in Varkala as a critical opportunity. In the past decade, the saffron party’s growth in the municipality has been swift. Back in 2010, the BJP had won only the Perumkulam ward. Though it lost the ward to the CPI(M) in 2015, it managed to take home Punnamoodu, Temple and Chaluvila wards. From there, it raised its tally to 11 in 2020, posing a direct threat to the the CPI(M)’s hold on Varkala.
In the run-up to the 2020 elections, the UDF had witnessed a bitter squabble over seats. The 33 seats were divided between the Congress (32) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) (1), prompting a dismayed front partner IUML to field its own candidates in seven wards. A senior IUML leader in the region said the party has staked claim to six seats this time, but the UDF is yet to take a decision on it.
On its part, the CPI(M) hopes to have a clear edge this time riding on the wave of the LDF government’s achievements on the welfare and development fronts. It also draws confidence from the victory it enjoyed in the Varkala Assembly constituency in the 2021 Assembly polls and the upper hand it enjoyed in the Assembly constituency in the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The 2025 elections will be held to 34 wards as the Statewide ward delimitation has added Janardhanapuram as the municipality’s new ward. The number of voters has increased compared to 2020. In 2020, the municipality had 32,985 voters, including 17,985 women and 15,000 men. It has risen to 33,604 with 18,413 women and 15,191 men.
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