Kerala Local Body Polls: Jose K Mani's support helps LDF to make inroads in UDF citadels

Kottayam: The ruling CPI(M)-led LDF has made inroads in UDF strongholds in central Kerala wresting power in Kottayam and Idukki district panchayats and winning several municipalities and panchayats in the civic polls with the support of Jose K Mani faction of Kerala Congress (M),

This was the first election since the Jose K Mani faction of the KC(M) severed its decades old ties with the UDF over its differences with the Congress over sharing the Kottayam district panchayat president's post in the previous council.

As the results of the civic polls came in, the UDF leadership was stunned to see the collapse of the Congress-led front in its citadels in the district including Kottayam district panchayat, Pala municipality and Puthuppally gram panchayat.

Puthuppally is the stronghold of the Congress from where former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy has been elected to the state Assembly for the last five decades.

Buoyed by the stunning performance of his faction in the local body polls in many parts of the central Kerala districts including Kottayam and Idukki, Jose K Mani said the result clearly states the faction led by him was the real Kerala Congress (M).

Recalling the contribution of his late father and Kerala Congress (M) founder-leader K M Mani in building base for the UDF in the state, Jose K Mani said the victory of LDF, in which his faction is a partner, is a "fitting reply to those who had backstabbed K M Mani."

"This victory is also the people's recognition for the welfare measures undertaken by the LDF government," he told reporters.

The UDF, in which another faction of Kerala Congress (M)-led by former minister P J Joseph is a partner, said it would study the reasons behind the front's poor show in the central Kerala districts in the civic polls.

Meanwhile, The Congress and the BJP have gone into a shell as in the home turf of Congress veteran like Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala, Mullpally Ramachandran and BJP stalwarts like state President K.Surendran and the lone Kerala Union Minister V. Muraleedharan also saw the LDF emerging victorious.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)