Post-poll arithmetic pushes UDFLDF talks in Palakkad municipality to block NDA
PALAKKAD: With no political front securing a clear majority in the Palakkad municipality, post-poll negotiations have swiftly moved from informal exchanges to structured political engagement. Senior party leaders and local functionaries across fronts confirm that exploratory talks are underway between the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to forge a tactical understandingon the lines of an INDIA-bloc-style coordination at the civic levelto prevent the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from forming the municipal administration. The municipal arithmetic has left little room for ambiguity. In the 53-member council, the NDA has emerged as the single largest bloc with 25 seats, falling two short of the 27 required for a simple majority. The UDF has secured 18 wards, the LDF nine, along with the presence of a Congress rebel. Taken together, the UDFLDF tally comfortably crosses the majority mark, providing the numerical basis for a potential alternative administration, should both fronts agree on a working arrangement. Signals from the fronts Public statements from UDF leaders underline the seriousness of the discussions. Palakkad UDF convenor Balagopal P told TNIE that the priority is to keep the NDA out of power, with the finer contours of any arrangement to be decided at the state leadership level. The emphasis, he suggested, is on political strategy rather than immediate portfolio negotiations. At any cost, we will keep away NDA from the power, he affirmed. Kerala local body polls: UDF makes history, sweeps panchayats, corporations; NDA secures Thiruvananthapuram Meanwhile, a visibly shaken BJP state vice president C Krishnakumar, who spearheaded the NDAs campaign in Palakkad, hoping to win at least 32 wards this time, described any UDFLDF understanding as a distortion of the electoral mandate. He argued that both fronts had tacitly worked against the NDA during the polls and maintained that the BJPs emergence as the largest bloc reflected voter endorsement despite those efforts. The political churn in Palakkad carries significance beyond local governance. Over the past decade, the municipality has occupied a pivotal place in Keralas political landscape as the first civic body where the BJP succeeded in capturing poweran event widely seen as a turning point in the partys expansion at the grassroots level in the state. As negotiations continue behind the scenes, the final shape of Palakkads municipal administration will hinge not just on arithmetic, but on how far traditional rivals are willing to stretch political pragmatism to achieve a shared objective.
17 C
