LDF's victory in Kerala local body polls, befitting reply to UDF, BJP: Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], December 16 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has won a comprehensive victory in the local body polls which were held recently in the state.
As per latest trends, the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF is leading in 516 out of the total 941 gram panchayats, according to the State Election Commission figures.
The Congress-led UDF was ahead in 375 gram panchayats while NDA is leading in 22 gram panchayats.
Out of the six corporations in the state, the LDF and the UDF were leading in three each.
Vijayan said at a press conference here, "This is the victory of the people of the state. This election result are a befitting reply to those who are trying to destroy Kerala and its achievements. The efforts of those who tried to destabilise the government using central agencies have been defeated."
"The results have shown that UDF and it's opportunistic politics have no space in Kerala. Congress was siding with the BJP to carry out false campaign and malign LDF. It has not succeeded," he added.
He further said: "In Gram Panchayats LDF was able to present a good performance. People supported LDF in a big way. Even in places, UDF had a big influence, Left was able to win. This also includes places where big leaders of Congress hold sway. This is because people have lost confidence in UDF."
Vijayan said that people of Kerala always support secularism and have voted out the disinformation campaign run by certain media.
"Kerala's heart is always with secularism. It is a reason they trusted Left. People have voted out the disinformation campaign run by certain media," he said.
"People of the state wanted LDF to continue and the results show it. They have accepted the development works carried out by the LDF government in the last four years," he added.
"Those who were behind the disinformation campaign thought that people's mandate can be turned against LDF. I congratulate and thank all voters who were not influenced by the false campaign and supported LDF in the state," the chief minister said.
"BJP and UDF who have taken anti-development campaign should withdraw from it and do an introspection. Unparalleled development was carried out by the Left that was promised in election manifesto. Our development initiatives have reached all spheres of life," he added.
Vijayan said: "No government that was in power would have faced such a number of national disasters - Okhi cyclone, floods, Nipah virus and now COVID-19. Kerala faced it all together. The efforts taken by the Kerala government are being analysed and people have stood with the LDF."
The Kerala local body polls were held in three phases. The first phase saw a turnout of 73.12 per cent, while the second phase saw 76.78 and the third and final phase 78.64 per cent.

A total of 21,893 wards in 1,200 local self-governing bodies, including six corporations, 941 village panchayats, 14 district panchayats and 87 municipalities went to the polls in on December 8, 10 and 14. (ANI)