Thiruvananthapuram:
The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Monday retained power in Mattanur municipality in Kannur district winning 21 of 35 seats while it rival Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) doubled its seats from 7 to 14. The BJP failed to get a single seat this time.
The UDF has improved its position in the LDF bastion, shocking the left circles. CPI(M) district secretary M V Jayarajan said the party will examine pilferage of votes in some seats and blamed the BJP for helping the Congress. The distant third runner in the state, the BJP could not win a single seat. As many as 111 candidates contested for the election for 35 seats and 84 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise.
In the last assembly election, former health minister K K Shailaja romped home from Mattanur constituency with a record margin of over 60,000 votes. Her popularity rose considerably after she helped contain the pandemic but later huge backlogs were added to the fatality rate.