The ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) suffered a huge setback in the 2025 local body elections in Kerala with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) making a strong comeback across Corporations, municipalities and panchayats in the State.
But the big story of the day was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA emerging as the single-largest front in the high-profile Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, winning 50 of the 101 wards in the LDF-ruled civic body.
Votes polled in the two-phased elections in Kerala on December 9 and December 11 were counted across multiple centres on Saturday.
Of the six Corporations, the UDF won four — Kollam, Kochi, Thrissur and Kannur, 505 of the 941 grama panchayats, 79 of the 152 grama panchayats, seven out of the 14 district panchayats and 54 of the 86 municipalities, according to the updates released by the State Election Commission (SEC) at 7.30 p.m.
The LDF, which held five Corporations in 2020, could win only Kozhikode this time. It also won 340 grama panchayats, 63 block panchayats, seven district panchayats and 28 municipalities.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation where it was the major Opposition during 2020-25, in addition to 26 grama panchayats and two municipalities.
The results in 75 local bodies were tied. This list included 64 grama panchayats, 10 block panchayats and one municipality. Other parties and Independents won in six grama panchayats and one municipality.
At the time of filing this report, the UDF held 9,015 of the 17,337 grama panchayat wards, while the LDF’s numbers dipped to 6,559. The BJP-led NDA won 1,444 grama panchayat wards, while 1,273 were won by others/Independents.
In the 2,267 block panchayat wards, 1,241 were won by the UDF, 923 by the LDF, 54 by the NDA-BJP and 49 by others/Independents. Of the 346 district panchayat wards, UDF claimed 171 and the LDF 109, NDA-BJP won one district panchayat ward and others/Independents, one.
In the 3,240 municipal wards, UDF won 1,458, LDF 1,100, the NDA-BJP 324 and others/independents 323. In the 421 Corporation wards, 187 were won by the UDF, 125 by the LDF and 93 by the BJP. 15 went to other parties/Independents.
While the UDF wave was felt across local bodies, the BJP visibly improved its positions in the urban local bodies, emerging as the top player in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and as the main opposition party in several municipalities.
In the 101-ward Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, where 51 seats are needed for a majority, elections have been held only in 100 wards. The election to the Vizhinjam ward is awaited where it had been put off following the death of a candidate.
The LDF, which had had a clear upper hand in the previous elections held in 2020, has lost significant ground across local bodies this time.
Well-known names who scripted victories in 2025 included former Congress MLA Anil Akkara who won from Adat panchayat in Thrissur, Congress’s former MLA K. Sabarinadhan who won from the Kowdiar ward of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and BJP candidate and former DGP R. Sreelekha who won from the Sasthamangalam ward of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
Prominent candidates who lost included the LDF Mayor of Kollam Corporation Honey Benjamin and former Mayor V. Rajendrababu, also of the LDF.
Newly-elected members/councillors will take the oath on December 21.
The outcome of the 2025 local body elections was keenly awaited given the fact that Kerala is readying for the State Assembly elections in 2026. The local body elections were held in two phases on December 9 and 11.
The combined voter turnout in the two phases had stood at 73.69% with 2,10,79,609 crore of the total 2,86,07,658 voters in Kerala’s 14 districts exercising their franchise.
The counting of the votes polled in the two-phased December 9 and December 11 elections were held across 244 centres on Saturday. Counting began with the postal ballots issued to the election officials at 8 a.m. The results were out in full by Saturday evening.
Published – December 13, 2025 08:02 pm IST
