After a five-year hiatus, the United Democratic Front (UDF) has romped back to power, as it is comfortably positioned to cross the magic number of 39 in the 76-member Kochi Corporation.
By noon, it was leading in 45 divisions, while the Left Democratic Front (LDF) was ahead in only 20. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in six divisions, and independents in five. The UDF is on the cusp of replicating its best performance in recent times, the victory in 2010 when it bagged 48 seats.
Of the 38 divisions for which results were declared, the UDF won 25, the LDF secured 10, and the BJP won three.
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The UDF won Fort Kochi, Kalvathy, Earaveli, Mattancherry, Karuvelippady, Gandhi Nagar, Ernakulam North, Ponekkara, Dhevankulangara, Palarivattom, Puthiya Road, Vennala, Chakkaraparambu, Chalikkavattom, Konthuruthy, Island South, Palluruthy, Karippalam, Ernakulam South, Elamakkara South, Kathrikadavu, Kaloor South, Thattazham, Vaduthala East, and Edakochi South. The LDF managed to win Chakkamadom, Thevara, Palluruthy East, Perumpadappu, Kadebagham, Edakochi North, Konam, Palluruthy-Kacherippady, Nambyapuram, and Tharebagham divisions. The BJP retained its sitting seats of Island North, Ernakulam Central, and Cheralayi.
The UDF’s Antony Kureethara, who served as the leader of the opposition in the previous council, lost to T. Padmakumari of the BJP in Island North. Meanwhile, BJP’s Pravitha Vijayakumar defeated her former party colleague and six-time councillor Shyamala S. Prabhu by a significant margin of 1,593 votes. Ms. Prabhu had rebelled and resigned from the party to contest as an independent after being denied a ticket this time.
The Congress succeeded in wresting Gandhi Nagar and Vaduthala East – long considered LDF strongholds that had not fallen for nearly five decades. Henry Austin defeated O.P. Sunil by 751 votes in Vaduthala East, while Nirmala Rajappan won Gandhi Nagar by narrowly defeating CPI(M)’s debutant candidate T. Mayadevi by just 20 votes. UDF’s parliamentary party secretary in the previous council, M.G. Aristotle, defeated two-time CPI(M) councillor K.V. Manoj by 678 votes, and UDF’s potential mayoral candidate V.K. Minimol defeated R. Ratheesh by 856 votes, overcoming a challenge from Congress rebel Joseph Alex, who contested as an independent.
Another UDF mayoral candidate, Deepthy Mary Varghese, was also leading in the newly formed Stadium division against LDF-backed independent George Nanatt. LDF-backed independent K.J. Prakashan, who had served as a Congress councillor for three terms since 2000, won from the newly created Mundamveli East division, while his wife, two-time councillor Mary Calista Prakashan of the NCP-SP, was trailing in the neighbouring Mundamveli division.
BJP’s Sunitha Dixon, who switched from the UDF ally Revolutionary Socialist Party just before the election, was trailing behind the LDF’s Beena Divakaran in the Ponnurunni East division.
The situation looked entirely different during the initial hour of counting, when the LDF appeared poised for a second consecutive term, leading in twice as many divisions as the UDF. However, the trend shifted slowly but decisively as the UDF continued to overturn LDF leads across multiple divisions.
Published – December 13, 2025 12:44 pm IST
