Kerala civic polls: Amit Shah thanks people and party workers for an impressive win

BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday thanked people of Kerala for reposing faith in the party and congratulated party workers in the state for BJP's impressive performance in the civic polls.

BJP made major inroads in the civic polls in Kerala by improving its performance, while the ruling Congress-led UDF suffered a setback while CPI(M)-led LDF won a majority.

Congratulations to Karyakartas& BJP Kerala unit for impressive performance in Civic polls,also thank people of Kerala fr showing faith in us

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 7, 2015

The civic elections are considered as a semifinal ahead of next year's Assembly polls.

BJP, which has so far failed to taste success in Assembly and Parliament elections in the state, won one municipality and 14 gram panchayats, but made significant inroads in several places especially Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Palakkad, posing stiff threat to both UDF and LDF.

Shah's 'political agenda' in Kerala to have cooperation with Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, an outfit of backward Ezhava community led by its general secretary Vellappaly Natesan seems to have paid off.

Dealing a major blow to both UDF and LDF in the prestigious 100-member Thiruvananthauram Corporation, BJP wrested 34 wards, pushing UDF to third spot with 21 seats. LDF, which held the Corporation for the last two decades, won 42 wards, short of a simple majority. BJP's improvememnt is significant as it had won only six wards in the last polls.