Congress-CPM tie-up ends at Marakkara panchayat

Malappuram: The Congress-CPM tie-up in Marakkara panchayat has collapsed after the UDF constituents decided to stay united.  As per an agreement reached at the UDF meeting on Tuesday, the remaining term of the governing council would be shared by the Congress and the Muslim League.

Panchayat president and former DCC  member V. Madhusudhanan resigned from his post on Wednesday ending  the two-year-old alliance with the CPM.  Marakkara was one of the several panchayats in the district where both of the UDF’s major constituents had fought each other in the 2015 civic body elections.

Though the Muslim League had secured nine of the total 20 seats in the panchayat council, the local feud within the UDF prompted the Congress to seek the support of the CPM members and formed the council  with the help of an independent member. Both the Congress and the CPM have five members each in the council. The UDF  would  form the administration within two days, said Mr Madhusudhanan.   According to the agreement within the UDF,  the Muslim League will be at the helm of affairs of the new council and the Congress will take it over later.  

Marakkara has joined the list of  panchayats where the Congress-Left coalitions, popularly called ‘Samabar Munnani,’ have  collapsed due to the unity in the UDF.

Earlier, the UDF had reclaimed Chokkad, Kalikavu and Edapatta panchayats from the coalition. The UDF district leadership is also hopeful of  bringing down  similar coalitions in Kondotty municipality and Vazhakkdu panchayat to reinstate its own administrations  there.