Major political fronts in Kerala await results of the 2025 local body elections as vote counting starts on December 13. Initial trends show varied leads across districts, with full results expected by afternoon. The outcome holds significance ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
Vote counting for Kerala's 2025 local body elections began at 8 a.m. on December 13 across 244 centres, covering 23,573 wards in 1,199 local bodies, including 941 grama panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 86 municipalities, and six corporations. The elections were held in two phases on December 9 and 11, with a voter turnout of 73.69%, as 21,079,609 out of 28,607,658 voters participated. Elections were postponed in three wards due to candidate deaths, including ward 10 of Pampakuda panchayat in Ernakulam following the death of C.S. Babu.
The process starts with verifying seals and tags on electronic voting machines in the presence of candidates or agents, followed by counting postal ballots at district collectorates and then EVM votes. Initial trends emerged by 8.30 a.m., accessible via the State Election Commission's websites.
In the 2020 elections, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) dominated, winning 44 of 87 municipalities, five of six corporations, over 500 grama panchayats, 11 of 14 district panchayats, and over 100 of 152 block panchayats. This time, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) aim to increase their tallies.
Early trends indicate LDF leads in six divisions of Kochi Corporation, UDF in two, and NDA in one; Shiny Mathew of UDF leads there and is a potential mayoral candidate. In Thrissur Corporation, UDF leads in three wards, LDF in one, and NDA in one. Thiruvananthapuram Corporation sees LDF leading in six wards, NDA in three, and UDF in two, with LDF sources confident of securing 38-40 wards comfortably. UDF leads in Feroke and Ramanattukara municipalities in Kozhikode district, where polling was lowest at 69.55%. K. Praveen Kumar, president of the District Congress Committee, attributed low turnout to youth migration: “Most youngsters are out of the State either for education or employment as they have no opportunities here. The State government is responsible for it.”
In Ernakulam, 7,374 candidates contested for 2,219 wards across 111 local bodies. Security measures include over 7,000 police in Kozhikode's sensitive areas. All fronts express confidence, with Idukki seeing hopes from UDF, LDF, NDA, and Tamil Nadu-based parties.
