‘Development’ is going to be an oft-used word in Varkala in the weeks ahead as the ruling LDF prepares to battle it out with the UDF and the BJP to retain its control over the 33-seat-strong municipal council.
A municipality that has revealed a tendency to swing between the LDF and UDF every five years, Varkala was captured by the LDF in 2015, winning 18 of the 33 wards. The LDF is hoping to buck the trend this time and stay in power on the strength of the development activities carried out in the municipality.
“We are fully confident of a victory,” says Bindu Haridas, the CPI(M) chairperson of the municipality. “Over the past five years, the LDF has been successful in ushering in development on multiple fronts, including sanitation, housing, education, and healthcare. The people are aware of this,” she says.
The LDF can claim robust achievements on the sanitation front which include the introduction of material recovery facilities, shredding unit and the formation of a Haritha Karma Sena, Ms. Haridas said. “We have introduced smart classrooms in schools and much-needed infrastructure development at the Taluk Hospital. As many as 771 houses were constructed by mobilising Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), municipality, and State government funds,” Ms. Haridas says. The LDF was also instrumental in curbing unauthorised constructions, particularly in the tourism belt in the coast, she added.
On its part, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), which lost the fight in 2015, is confident of winning back the municipality. “The LDF cannot claim to have done anything on the development front,” says S. Jayasree, the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing municipal council. “They have confined themselves to making cosmetic changes. The LDF, for instance, has done nothing to improve the roads in the municipality. Even the much-hyped renovation of the town hall has reached nowhere,” she said.
This time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to improve its score from the three seats it won in 2015. The BJP also echoes the UDF mantra that the LDF did little to improve the lives of the people of Varkala municipality.
“The LDF has not even fulfilled the promises that were included in their election manifesto in 2015. What little they have done has been with the support of the BJP-led Central government, such as PMAY and the Swachh Bharat Mission,” says G. Sunil Kumar, the BJP parliamentary party leader in the municipal council.
