Election to the Palakkad municipal council is likely to be not only a heated one, but also one of the keenly watched battles in the State.
All eyes will be on Palakkad as the Bharatiya Janata Party, the United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front engage themselves in a triangular fight. Palakkad is the only municipality in the State which has been under BJP rule.
The no-trust motions introduced by the Opposition UDF and LDF had failed to unseat the BJP despite it being in minority. The BJP had 24 representatives in the 52-member outgoing municipal council. It ruled the municipality for five years as the single largest party.
Hopeful of bettering tally
The BJP is going to the polls with the confidence of having ruled the municipality for five years by circumventing the UDF-LDF broadsides. BJP leaders said that they were hopeful of improving their tally in the next council.
Both the UDF and the LDF are approaching the people by targeting the BJP for “miserable governance” in Palakkad. The UDF had 17 members while the LDF had nine in the outgoing council. When an Independent member supported the UDF, the Welfare Party member supported the LDF.
Although the Opposition parties unseated the standing committee chairpersons, they failed in bringing down the BJP’s chairperson and vice chairperson. The Opposition backlash had caused many hurdles for the BJP for a smooth rule.
The chairmanship is reserved for a woman in Palakkad this year too. The BJP’s outgoing chairperson Prameela Sasidharan is likely to be fielded for the post this time as well. The LDF and the UDF have begun their hunt for a woman with leadership qualities.
The voters in the civic body traditionally used to support the UDF. Upbeat over the victory of Congress district president V.K. Sreekandan, MP, in the previous Parliament election from Palakkad, the UDF has taken a pledge to wrest the municipality back from the BJP. Apart from Mr. Sreekandan, Palakkad’s MLA Shafi Parambil too is likely to focus on the municipality.
The work carried out under the AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) project is the trump card of the BJP for seeking a second term. Outgoing vice chairman C. Krishnakumar, BJP’s State general secretary, will lead the party in the election.
LDF’s charges
The LDF brought out a chargesheet against the BJP highlighting its failures in the past five years. Corruption in AMRUT project and failure to find a solution to the issue of waste disposal are focused in the LDF chargesheet. Former MLA T.K. Noushad will lead the LDF in Palakkad.
