The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : KC(J) to vacate standing committee chair

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Thursday, Nov 01, 2007
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

KC(J) to vacate standing committee chair

Special Correspondent

Political reshuffle in Corporation Council

Janata Dal to take over the chairmanship
KC(J) seeks review of power-sharing agreement

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Congress-Joseph (KC-J) has decided to vacate the chairmanship of the Town Planning standing committee in the City Corporation. The party secretariat that met here on Wednesday evening decided to give up the post to honour the post-poll power-sharing agreement with other partners in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) coalition.

Committee chairman and KC(J) district general secretary R. Satheeshkumar said he had informed the Mayor of the decision to step down on completion of his two-year tenure on October 31. “Our party has adhered to the post-poll pact,” Mr. Satheeshkumar said. He would submit his resignation letter to the Corporation Secretary soon, he said.

Meanwhile, the LDF district committee has decided to hand over the chairmanship of the Town Planning committee to the Janata Dal for the next two years. Janata Dal council party leader and Town Planning committee member P. Harikumar is tipped to be the party’s nominee for the post.

However, the KC (J) has decided not to go down without a fight. The party has demanded a comprehensive State-level review of the power-sharing agreement between the LDF partners, finalised after the elections to local bodies in 2005. It claims that the current pact has been rendered invalid by the failure to honour the deal in several local bodies.

KC (J) state secretary Antony Raju said his party had written to the LDF leadership asking for a change in the chairmanship of the standing committee on Taxes and Appeals, currently held by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) nominee K. Maheswaran Nair. “The seat was allotted to the erstwhile DIC(K) which later merged with the NCP. Since the NCP is not an LDF partner, the seat has to be vacated and allocated to a coalition partner after negotiations,” he said.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) chairs four of the seven standing committees in the Corporation. The Communist Party of India (CPI), the KC(J) and the NCP head one each. The power-sharing agreement was finalised by the LDF on the basis of the strength of the constituent parties in the council. While the CPI(M) has 50 councillors, the CPI has nine. The Janata Dal and the KC(J) have three each and the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Congress(S) one each. The NCP has eight seats.

Under the post-poll agreement on sharing the chairmanship of the Town Planning committee, the KC(J) and the Janata Dal have a tenure of two years each, leaving one year for the RSP.

Congress(S) demand

The Congress(S), meanwhile, has staked claim to the chair of the Taxes committee. It hopes to step in if the State unit of the NCP decides to return to the Congress and withdraw support to the LDF. The only hitch in the Congress(S) plan is that party councillor Palayam Rajan is not in the Taxes committee.

Mayor C. Jayan Babu confirmed that he had been informed about the KC(J) decision to vacate the chairmanship. Announcing the decision to step down, Mr. Satheeshkumar said he was proud to have presided over the committee in the initial phase. He hoped the priority projects initiated during his tenure would continue without let up.

“A number of city development and beautification projects were taken up over the past two years. Four public parks at Sreekanteswaram, Poonthura, Kowdiar and Poojappura were renovated. The committee also succeeded in identifying land for construction of parking lots in the congested areas of the city and curbing unauthorised construction. It is up to the next chairman to continue the ongoing projects and take up new challenges,” he said.

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