Kerala   

Fractured verdict in Angamaly

ALUVA: The United Democratic Front (UDF) swept the election held for the Aluva municipality by winning 22 out of the 25 wards for which counting of votes was held on Wednesday. The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) suffered one of its worst setbacks, as it could win only two wards while the remaining seat was bagged by an independent candidate.

The UDF maintained a clear edge over the LDF from the first round of the counting of votes itself.

Stating that the people had voted against the misrule of the LDF, V. P. George, former Opposition leader and Congress candidate who won the Palace ward by a margin of 293 votes, said that the CPI (M) had failed in tackling the garbage menace.

Angamaly

Two independent candidates will decide the fate of the Angamaly municipality, where the UDF ended one short of a simple majority in the counting for the election to the local body held on Wednesday. In a nail-biting finish, the UDF won 15 seats while the LDF secured 13 seats.

Two independent candidates including Wilson Mundadan, and K. A. Paulose beat their UDF and LDF rivals to win the Valavazhi and Nasrath wards, respectively. The Congress has decided not to seek the support of Mr. Mundadan, whom it had supported as the vice-chairman candidate in the UDF's term in the last council.

It is learnt that Mr. Paulose, who won the Nasrath ward as independent by defeating the UDF rival by a margin of 84 votes, is likely to support the UDF.

Women candidates of the UDF won the hearts of the voters as 12 of them emerged victorious in the election. Five women LDF candidates also won the election in the municipality.

Kothamangalam

The UDF stormed into power in the Kothamangalam municipality winning 23 of the 31 seats.

Among the prominent losers is M. V. Santu of the CPI (M), who was defeated by Baby Xavier of the Congress by more than 300 votes in the Kuthukuzhy ward.

Prominent winners include K. P. Babu, working committee member of the KPCC from the Karingazha School ward. He is likely to be the new chairman of the municipality.

The UDF constituents that won seats in the municipal council are the Congress, which won 15 seats; Kerala Congress (M) with five seats; Kerala Congress (Jacob) with two seats and Muslim League with one seat.

Perumbavoor

UDF has retained power at the Perumbavoor municipal council, winning 15 seats including two independents supported by it, in the 27-member body. LDF won nine seats while two independents and a BJP candidate were elected.

The number of seats in the council had gone up by three in the reorganised council. UDF, which had only 11 seats in the previous 24-member council, had been supported by two others, including an independent and a PDP councillor.

Though the UDF was able to garner a comfortable lead in the election to the new council, it had to face defeat from a rebel, Paul Pathikkal, in one of the wards. While BJP won a seat, PDP has lost its presence in the new council.

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