MALAPPURAM: The rift in the Congress-CPM alliance in Kondotty municipality has widened as the majority of the Congress members have decided not to support the CPM nominee for the post of chairperson. The Congress move comes after holding the post for the past two years. Former chairman and Congress councillor C.K. Nadikutty had resigned as per a pre-poll agreement to hand over the post to the CPM. In the 40-member council of the municipality, no party has absolute majority to go solo.
The current situation is a result of the resignation of recently elected chairperson P. Geetha of the CPM. She resigned as she was elected with the support of the lone member of Social Democratic Party (SDPI) after the vote of a CPM councillor turned invalid which caused backlash from the opposition. The election will be held again on February 27. Immediately after the election, the district Congress committee had also ousted nine party councillors for violation of party whip against voting for the CPM candidate.
Out of the 40 councillors, the CPM-led LDF has 10 members plus the support of an IUML rebel. The Congress has 10 of which nine have been ousted from the party and the opposition Indian Union Muslim League has 18 members. IUML has also the backing of a Congress member. The SDPI has one member who supported the Congress-CPM alliance so far.
If the rift remains wide open, it would pave the way for the opposition IUML to grab power. It is learnt that the IUML is also planning to field a candidate for the post of chairperson which is reserved for SC category. The IUML is single largest party in the council with 18 members. Besides the support from a Congress member, it needs the support of two more members to win the post.
