Congress leaders distributed sweets at Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday after the dominant performance of the UDF in the state local body elections. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A strong showing in the local body elections seems to have helped the Congress opposition led by the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) to shrug off the despondency of being kicked out of the government since 2016. The UDF also sees the victory as a stepping stone to winning the assembly elections in 2026. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s post on X reflected the party’s new optimism.
He thanked Kerala voters for the “decisive verdict” and expressed confidence that the UDF would “receive a similar mandate” in the assembly elections. Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President Sunny Joseph and All India Congress Committee General Secretary KC Venugopal shared this view with reporters. Mr Satheesan said the UDF’s emergence as a big tent to accommodate various social groups had catalysed the coalition’s “best performance since the first local body elections in 1995”.
“Victory of the People”
He credited “Team UDF” for reasserting its political identity as the sole bastion against Hindutva rule by thwarting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) bid for electoral supremacy, allegedly with the help of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in several constituencies. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala called the results a “victory for the people”. He said the UDF had resumed its winning streak of 2010. However, he said the victory should not blind the leaders to the challenges ahead.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph, MLA, said the UDF was fighting a two-way battle against the LDF and NDA with a relatively exhausted electoral war. The UDF defeated the LDF’s efforts to shrink the opposition through voter suppression, brazen manipulation of electoral boundaries and covert tactical alliances with the NDA. Mr. Joseph said the UDF’s campaign highlighting the theft of gold at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple as a symbol of the government’s contempt for personal beliefs, corruption and nepotism resonated strongly with voters. He accused the NDA of “disappearing” from the Sabarimala issue to maintain its tacit alliance with the LDF.
Mr. Venugopal accused the LDF of “handing over the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram” to the NDA. He claimed that the LDF’s covert adoption of the NDA’s anti-labour labor code and the revanchist National Education Policy (NEP) revealed its “true face” to Kerala’s secular-democratic electorate.
Wayanad Conclave
A Congress insider said the UDF leadership conclave at Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad earlier in the year had laid the blueprint for a strong opposition performance in the local polls. It streamlined the candidate selection process, taking into account caste, religion and age demographics along with public appeal and leadership. In addition, the UDF conducted a boot-on-ground operation that prioritized door-to-door conversations with voters.
In addition, the UDF prepared a region-specific “indictment” against the government, highlighting local issues such as human-wildlife conflict, a cratering agrarian economy and a decline in public service delivery, particularly in health. At the same time, he said the UDF represents a credible alternative to local body governance for people fed up with decades of LDF rule.
He said the UDF’s decision to suspend leaders accused of serial sexual predation has imposed the LDF to do the same. “LDF’s shortcomings in enforcing the honesty of leaders in public life resonated strongly with voters,” he added.
Published – 13 Dec 2025 20:08 IST
