Palakkad: UDF has secured a favorable result in the areas coming under Palakkad municipality, something they couldn't achieve in any of the previous elections, said senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan. While speaking to reporters at Palakkad on Saturday, he said that the LDF's advertisement in the final days of the campaign turned even left-leaning people into enemies. "That is why, even after fielding an independent candidate, they couldn't make any progress," he said.

“The defeat of CPM in Palakkad is the result of the strong sentiments of those people who love CPM and want to give them a jolt for their mistakes. The victory in Palakkad is a glittering chapter in the history of Congress in Kerala. However, the setback in Chelakkara will be viewed seriously by the party. The systematic work that was displayed in Chelakkara was more impressive than what we saw in Palakkad," he added.

“It doesn’t mean that the work done at Palakkad was bad.  UDF made considerable  progress in Chelakkara which we hadn’t seen before. However, even the gains we made in the last Lok Sabha elections couldn't be replicated there. While the people welcomed us, they also gave us a warning. Chelakkara teaches us a lesson that anti-incumbency does not always translate into votes. However, the defeat in Chelakkara will not discourage us. We accept the verdict with humility. The UDF will move forward with renewed strength," Muraleedharan responded.

He also expressed happiness at being able to give Priyanka Gandhi the majority she aimed for and added that the party did not lose any votes due to Sandeep Varrier switching sides. "The party didn’t lose any votes because of his entry," Muraleedharan concluded.