KOCHI: The Maradu municipality, which is mostly surrounded by the Vembanad backwaters, is feeling the heat of the local body elections with candidates belonging to different fronts concentrating on house-to-house squad work now.
The municipality that has one of the highest annual revenues of Rs 10 crore has 33 wards and it was ruled by the UDF last time with a majority of 23 wards with T.K. Devarajan becoming municipal chairman. Devarajan is contesting this time from ward number 2.
However, the chairperson seat is reserved for women and the UDF has two persons eyeing the post. They are prof Mary Matilda, former principal of Maharaja’s College, who is contesting from ward number 14, and the present deputy chairperson of the municipality Ajitha Nandakumar, who is contesting from ward number 13. Mary Mat-ilda is engaged in a d-irect contest with Sujatha Sisupalan of the LDF.
As in several other local bodies, the rebels are a headache for the UDF in over half a dozen constituencies here which can spoil the edge the front has in the municipality.
Three standing committee chairmen in the present council from the front are facing rebels but Devarajan is confident that they will romp home. “We faced rebel menace in the last elections too and overcame it. This time too we are expecting the same majority,” he said.
CPM Maradu East local committee secretary K.A. Devassy who is contesting from ward number 5 and is controlling the campaigning of LDF in the Maradu municipality said that people are disappointed with the UDF rule of the municipality and are set to return the LDF to power.
“They are disappointed with the way building permits are granted and also the corruption involved. The failure on the waste management front is another issue that will prove costly for the UDF. We have already launched an initiative to make the municipal area self-sufficient in terms of organic vegetables and if we come to power it will be strengthened,” he said.
According to Mary Matilda, the constituency is one of the few places in the state where cordiality is kept by the fronts as they engage in heated campaigning.
With her concern for the environment, she has avoided flex boards and graffiti in campaigning. Matilda is assisted by her old students drawn from different parts of Kochi city in the campaigning. BJP has fielded over two dozen candidates, including independents.
The CPM has not projected any chairperson candidate and Devassy said it will be decided only after the election. The opponents point this to fear of failure on the part of the LDF.
Devassy says that Matilda is new to the voters in the area whereas her opponent Sujatha Sisupalan has deep roots and had been a former panchayat member.
The five-star municipality with 12.35 sq km area and an electorate of 31,000 has voters in the range of 700-1300 in different wards.
The total number of candidates in the municipality is 116. Though CRZ rule is a major issue in the municipality, it is hardly reflected in the campaigning. The green lung of Valanthacad comes under the municipality.
