VM Sudheeran’s writ runs, Soumini is Kochi mayor

The corporation council will meet on Wednesday for the election of the mayor and the candidate of the United Democratic Front, which has 38 members in the 74-member council, is expected to romp home comfortably.

The decisive intervention by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V. M. Sudheeran put paid to the efforts by a section of the Congress leaders to prop up first-time councillor Shiny Mathew as the mayor candidate.

The District Congress Committee had earlier decided that the 'A' group will get the mayor's post while the 'I' group will get the posts of the deputy mayor and the president of the district panchayat.

Following allegations from various quarters including party leaders that Ms Mathew had bought her candidature by paying money to the top leaders, the KPCC asked the party's representative for overseeing the mayoral election and KPCC general secretary P. M. Suresh Babu to inquire into the allegations.

There were also suggestions that the Latin Catholic Church also supported the candidature of Ms Mathew. It is understood that Mr Suresh Babu has had extensive interactions with the party leaders and corporation councilors and communicated his findings to the leadership.

The KPCC intervened in the election process by issuing a set of guidelines for the election of top posts in the civic bodies which barred first-time members and those with no previous party or administrative experience from occupying such posts.

This effectively forced the 'A' group to drop Ms Mathew and put up Soumini Jain, who was the chairperson of the works standing committee in the last council.

The 'I' group has named T. J. Vinod, who was a member of the outgoing council, as the deputy mayor.