SDPI, WPI set to expand their footprint in Kerala local body polls

Minor parties that are gaining traction among Muslim voters in Kerala, especially the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Welfare Party of India (WPI), are preparing to contest the upcoming local body elections with heightened vigour.

While parties such as the Indian National League (INL), the National League and Abdul Nasir Maudany’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) exist on the fringe, they do not match the strength of the SDPI and the WPI.

Both the SDPI and the WPI have opted to contest the local body elections on their own, yet they remain open to local-level accommodations by offering or receiving support from either the Left Democratic Front (LDF) or the United Democratic Front (UDF) as circumstances demand.

Both the SDPI and the WPI say they are open to making small-scale, case-by-case arrangements with any party, except the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Although the LDF publicly insists on keeping the two parties at arm’s length, it ran municipalities such as Mukkam and Pathanamthitta with their support. In Mukkam, the LDF stayed in power from 2015 to 2020 thanks to WPI members; in Pathanamthitta, it relies on SDPI backing. Meanwhile, the UDF runs the Koottilangadi panchayat in Malappuram with WPI support, and the panchayat’s vice-president Shabeeba P.K. is a WPI member.

Several local bodies rely on either the WPI or the SDPI for a decisive vote. Statewide, the SDPI currently occupies 103 local body seats, including block panchayat and municipalities. Ten of them are in Malappuram district, including one in the Manjeri municipality.

The WPI currently holds 75 local body seats Statewide, with 25 of them in Malappuram district. Both the parties regard these numbers as respectable given their limited presence in the State’s electoral arena. The SDPI began contesting the local body polls in 2010, while the WPI made its electoral debut in 2015.

Both parties are aiming at doubling their seats in the upcoming polls, and the SDPI says it has lined up roughly 4,000 candidates Statewide.

Although they remain unaffiliated, both the LDF and UDF actively court their backing at the local level. Negotiations are under way in various parts of the State to secure micro level electoral agreements.

The INL and its offshoot, the National League, are in alliance with the LDF, though the National League is not a formal LDF constituent. Though the INL presently holds only a handful of seats, both parties hope to improve their position by remaining within the LDF’s fold. The PDP may be a modest force, but it continues to throw its weight behind the LDF.