The CPI(M)-led lDF gained upper hand in the by-polls held on Tuesday in local administration body wards in Kerala the results of which were announced on Thursday. The BJP retained an emotionally fought by-poll in the key Thevalli ward of the Kollam Municipal Corporation. The left won nine of the 15 civic body seats while the BJP bagged three wards. The by-polls to the local body wards were being looked at as extremely significant politically as these were held in the context of extensive campaigns being held in the State against the BJP over the currency demonetisation by the Centre and against the lDF Government in Kerala over allegations of corruption, nepotism and inefficiency. The Congress-led UDF wrested two wards from the left but at the same time lost two others to the left while the Kerala Congress (M), which faced a poll for the first time after its departure from the UDF, won a seat on its own in Mutholi Grama Panchayat in Kottayam district. The BJP lost a sitting seat to the left in Meencha in Kasaragod district. In the Thevalli ward by-poll in Kollam Corporation, which had become an emotional issue for the BJP as it was held to fill the vacancy created by the tragic death of its young councilor Kokila S Kumar in a road accident, BJP candidate and Kokila’s mother B Sailaja won keeping her daughter’s memories alive in the division.