Thiruvananthapuram, Sept. 30 -- The ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 19 of the 38 local body wards, where bypolls were conducted on Monday, in Keralam, suffering setbacks, both in terms of seats won and margin of votes, at the hands of the rival CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).

The bypolls were necessitated due to the deaths of sitting representatives and the elevation of members as MLAs. The elections were held for two Municipal Corporation wards, three Municipality wards, three District Panchayat divisions, seven Block Panchayat divisions and 23 Grama Panchayat wards across 12 districts. A voter turnout of 58.81% was recorded with 1.82 lakh people registering their franchise.

While the UDF held 22 of the 38...