Kochi: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) have shared seven district panchayats each when elections were held for the posts of president and vice-president at the district headquarters on Thursday. All the presidents and vice-presidents were sworn after the election.
The LDF bagged Thiru-vananthapuram, Kollam, Thrissur, Alappuzha, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kannur district panchayats while Pathanathitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam Malapp-uram, Wayanad and Kasaragod panchayat councils elected UDF candidates.
CPM’s V.K. Madhu was elected Thrivanantha-puram district pranchayat president and A Shailaja of CPI as vice-president. The sole BJP member Latha Kumari abstained from voting.
K. Jagadamma of CPI was elected president of the district council in Kollam and M. Sivasan-kara Pillai of CPM the vice-president.
The CPI leader will hold the post for two years. Annapurna Devi is the new Pathanamthitta district panchayat president and George Mammen Kondoor the vice-president. Both are representatives of the Congress.
Joshy Philip (Congress) is the new president of Kottayam district panchayat council. Mary Sebastian of the Kerala Congress is the vice-president.
Kochuthresia Poulose of Congress was elected the Idukki district panchayath president while Thampy Manuankal of Kerala Congress (M) was elected vice-president.
CPM member G. Venugopal is the new president of Alappuzha district panchayat while singer Daleema Jojo, also representing the CPM, was elected vice-president.
Asha Sanil and Abdul Muthalib were sworn in as the Ernakulam district panchayat president and vice-president, respectively. They both belong to the Congress.
Sheela Vijayakumar of CPI was elected as president of the Thrissur district panchayat. K.P. Radhakrishnan of CPM is the new vice-president.
In Palakkad, K. Aravindakhsan and P.K. Santha, both CPM, were elected president and vice-president, respectively.
A.P. Unnikrishnan, the nominee of Indian Union Muslim League, was elected unopposed as president of the Mal-appuram district panchayat. The post is rese-rved for scheduled castes. Sakkeena Pulppadan, also a nominee of the IUML, was elected the vice-president.
LDF nominees Babu Parasseri and Reena Mundengat have been elected as president and vice-president of the Kozhikode district panchayat, respectively. Both the leaders belong to the CPM.
In the UDF fortress of Wayanad, Congress candidate T. Ushakumari was elected the district panchayat president and IUML member Ms P.K. Asmath, the vice-president.
Karayi Rajan and P.P. Divya, both of CPM, were elected the president and vice-president, respectively, of Kannur district panchayat.
In Kasaragod, the UDF wrested the top posts with A.G.C. Basheer of IUML and Santhamma Philip of Congress getting elected as president and vice-president.
Rebels retreat; KPCC, Jessy win in Kalamasserry
Ending the high political drama that lasted for the two days, Jessy Peter, a Congress ‘A’ group councillor, has been sworn in as the new chairperson of Kalamassery municipality on Thursday. The factional feud within the Congress delayed the election of chairman and vice chairman by a day.
Jessy, who won from Glass Colony division, secured 27 of the 42 votes in the municipal council. Of the 42 members, 18 Congress councillors, five IUML councillors and four independent councillors voted for Jessy. She defeated Henny Baby of the LDF who bagged 15 votes.
Though the 12 ‘I’ faction councillors, who wanted their nominee Rukia Jamal as chairperson, protested against the KPCC’s guidelines not to consider political novices for key posts, their moves went in vain.
However, the ‘I’ group dissident councillors, registered their protest by walking out of the swearing-in ceremony of the new chairperson.
T.S. Aboobacker of the Muslim League was elec-ted as vice-chairman. He defeated A. A. Pareeth of the LDF by 27 votes to 15.
The election to chairman and vice chairman posts was postponed to Thursday since there was no quorum after the Congress ‘I’ faction councillors stayed away from the meeting on Wednesday.
Earlier, the KPCC put up the name of Jessy Peter, sitting councillor and development standing committee chairperson of the previous council, for the chairperson post.
However, the ‘I’ group councillors were not ready to follow the KPCC diktat and nominated Rukia Jamal, first time councillor and wife of former chairman Jamal Manakkadan for the coveted post.
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