Amidst a raging group war over the sharing of the president’s post in the Kottayam district panchayat, the Kerala Congress (M) faction led by Jose K. Mani sprang a surprise by deciding to hand over the president’s post of the Kanjirappally block panchayat to the rival group.
As per pact
In a statement issued here on Thursday, the Mani faction informed that Sophy Joseph, the incumbent president of the local body, would step down from the post on Friday.
The resignation, according to N. Jayaraj, MLA, a Mani faction member, is in line with a written agreement within the United Democratic Front (UDF).
The outgoing president is most likely to be succeeded by Mariamma Joseph, who owe allegiance to the Joseph group.
As per the existing post-sharing agreement, the incumbent president should have stepped down from the post on November 30, 2019.
No-trust motion
She, however, held on to the post despite protests by the rival faction and even surpassed a no-confidence motion moved by the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Observers regard the move by the Mani faction as a ploy to establish that only written agreements on power-sharing stand valid.
District panchayat
As there are no written agreements within the UDF regarding the post-sharing in Kottayam district panchayat, the Mani faction is unlikely to make any concessions there, they pointed out.
