From red dawn to blue wave: UDF turns despair to dominance in a matter of hours in Kochi Corporation

The counting day put United Democratic Front (UDF) supporters in the Kochi Corporation through an emotional rollercoaster for the initial couple of hours.

From a sense of being doomed to turning the tables on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in what promised to be a cliffhanger of a contest, and finally the sheer ecstasy of coasting easily past the simple majority mark, they experienced it all.

There was nothing to indicate what was in store as the postal ballots were taken up for counting. P.R. Ranish, the LDF candidate from the Konthuruthy division, was the first to take a lead, though it was immediately matched by the lead of the UDF’s Shiny Mathew from the Fort Kochi division, a lead she never surrendered throughout the counting. Then came a series of leads for LDF candidates in five more divisions in quick succession, followed by leads for two BJP candidates, even as the UDF’s lead remained restricted to just one division.

As it appeared that the LDF was off the blocks in a flash, the State Election Commission’s portal slowly but steadily turned red. With several prominent UDF leaders shown trailing, many news channels rushed to call an “LDF wave” in the Corporation.

At 8.45 a.m., the LDF led in 12 divisions, the UDF in four, and the BJP in two. Around that time, the first result was declared — UDF’s Antony Kureethara, who was the Opposition leader in the last council, lost to the BJP’s T. Padmakumari in the Island North division, and the writing seemed to be on the wall.

The UDF’s bright spots were the leads of its potential mayoral candidates, Deepthy Mary Varghese and V.K. Minimol, in the Stadium and Palarivattom divisions, respectively. However, the LDF continued to mount pressure, and at 9:12 a.m., it surged ahead in 24 divisions compared to the UDF’s nine, with the BJP holding leads in three, though the margins were negligible.

The UDF’s fightback coincided with the completion of postal ballot counting and the start of counting votes stored in electronic voting machines. The gap began narrowing, slowly at first, suggesting a neck-and-neck battle, and then rapidly, as almost all LDF candidates who were leading began to trail.

At 10 a.m., the numbers were tied at 32 each, and thereafter the LDF’s tally dropped at an alarming pace as the UDF surged ahead. Shortly thereafter, it became clear that it was indeed a UDF wave in Kochi.