Kerala - Kochi   

Fronts finalise chairperson candidates in 8 municipalities

KOCHI: Chairpersons of eight out of the 11 municipalities in the district have been chosen by the parliamentary party meetings of the respective political fronts.

Meetings held on Friday to select the chairperson candidates of Angamaly and Eloor municipalities proved inconclusive owing to difference of opinion among the Congress members. With the oath taking ceremony slated for Monday, District Congress Committee (DCC) will have to work out some sort of consensus by Sunday. The party, however, need not worry over the chairperson candidate for Thrikkakara municipality as almost a month is left for the term of the existing governing committee to expire.

DCC president V.J. Paulose told The Hindu that the Congress parliamentary party would be convened on Sunday to select the candidate to the post of the district panchayat president. The party will also decide on its Mayor candidate for Kochi Corporation on Sunday.

He said that the president of the district panchayat will be from the Congress. However, the Kerala Congress (M) has also staked claim to a term in the post. Out of the eight municipalities of which an understanding was reached on the chairperson candidates on Friday, seven were from the UDF. The lone chairperson from the Left Democratic Front was at Muvattupuzha.

In Thripunithura, where the UDF was able to breach the left bastion, R. Venugopal, long-time leader of opposition in the house and DCC member, had been selected as the chairman candidate. In the adjoining Maradu, which was elevated to the status of municipality, T.K. Devarajan, the opposition leader of the panchayat, has been selected as the chairman candidate.

In Paravur

M.T. Jacob, block vice president of the Congress, had been selected as the chairman candidate in Aluva municipality. Paravur, the lone municipality to have a woman chairperson in the district, will be headed by Valsala Prasannakumar. She had served a three year-term as chairperson in the past before serving as the opposition leader during the last five years.

Jamal Manakkadan, DCC and KPCC member, had been selected as the chairman candidate for Kalamassery municipality. This will be his third term as he had served as chairman during the 1995-2000 and 2000-2005 periods.

K.M.A Salam of Congress will become the chairman of Perumbavur municipality after getting elected to the council for the first time.

Senior Congress leader K.P. Babu will be the chairman of Kothamangalam municipality.

Muvattupuzha

The CPI (M) parliamentary party meeting elected U.R. Babu as the chairman of the Muvattupuzha municipality.

While election of chairpersons was unanimous in most of the municipalities, secret ballot was adopted in Kothamangalam and Thripunithura where more than one person threw their hat into the ring. In both cases, however, the official choice prevailed.

In Aluva municipality the secret ballot was avoided after V.P. George whose name also came up during discussions withdrew from the fray to facilitate a unanimous choice.

Mr. Paulose said that there was nothing wrong in secret ballot to make the choice when more than one name comes up.

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