Local Body Polls 2025: From majority to mayhem, UDF’s uneasy tryst with Thrikkakara municipality

In Thrikkakara municipality, which has been a United Democratic Front (UDF) stronghold since its panchayat days, the Congress is often its own worst enemy.

In the three elections held since its elevation to municipal status, the Congress-led UDF has emerged as the largest front but has rarely had a smooth tenure, except in 2010 when it won a simple majority. In 2015, the UDF won 21 seats against the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) 20 seats in the 43-member council. However, the LDF could only stay in power for about a year as it managed to gain control with the support of two Independents, who were Congress rebels, and later by convincing UDF councilor Sheela Charu to defect, but was later disqualified.

In the outgoing council, despite not having a clear majority, the UDF managed to remain in power throughout the entire term, securing a majority with the support of Independents, all of whom contested as Congress rebels. But internal squabbles have plagued the Congress and its only ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

Ajitha Thankappan of the ‘I’ group, who was appointed president in the first half of the term as per an intra-party agreement, initially refused to resign, replacing Radhamani Pillai of the ‘A’ group in the second half. The District Congress Committee had to intervene to ensure compliance with the rules, threatening disciplinary action. Ms Thankappan’s tenure was marred by the ‘Onam gift’ scandal, in which councilors were allegedly given ₹10,000 in cash each, prompting an investigation by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. Later, IUML’s vice president AA Ibrahimkutty was sacked after three party members strategically voted against him in the no-confidence motion tabled by the LDF.

Amid these setbacks, UDF scored a politically significant victory as its candidate Uma Thomas won the 2022 Thrikkakara Assembly by-election with a huge majority of 25,016 votes and 53.76% vote share, defeating LDF’s Jo Joseph. The election was held following the death of Mrs Thomas’ husband and MLA PT Thomas. The result was a punishment for the LDF, which launched a high-profile campaign under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Hibi Eden, the UDF candidate for Ernakulam Lok Sabba constituency, which includes Thrikkakara municipality, consolidated this momentum in the general elections held two years later, gaining a lead of nearly 15,000 votes in the municipality alone.

Fights in LDF

Things are far from smooth in the LDF camp ahead of the upcoming elections. Seat-sharing talks came to a halt due to disagreement between the Communist Party of India (Marxist). [CPI(M)] and Communist Party of India (CPI) consists of two regions. While the CPI claims dominance in the newly designated wards, the CPI(M) insists on competing on the basis of winnability.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to contest all the seats, though it remains a fringe player in the municipality as it has never won a single seat. Twenty20, a team supporting the Kitex Group, plans to field candidates across all wards.