Amid jubilation by party workers, notwithstanding the threat of COVID-19, the new councils in the six municipal Corporations in the State elected nominees to the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor on Monday.
The newly elected Mayors were sworn in by the respective District Collectors as party workers cheered, danced, burst crackers and distributed sweets.
Left Democratic Front nominees were sworn in to the posts in all but the Kannur Corporation where the United Democratic Front had emerged victorious at the hustings.
In the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, 21-year-old Arya Rajendran of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was elected Mayor, after she secured 54 votes in the 100-member council. P.K. Raju of the Communist Party of India was elected Deputy Mayor.
Ms.Arya as well as Mr.Raju got the support of the three Independent councillors, in addition to the 52 seats won by the LDF. In the voting for the Mayor post, one vote was declared invalid. The Opposition BJP, which has 34 seats and the support of an Independent councillor, and the Congress-led UDF with 10 seats also fielded candidates for the Mayor post.
Prasanna Earnest of the CPI(M) was elected Mayor of the Kollam Corporation and Kollam Madhu of the CPI was elected Deputy Mayor. Ms.Earnest who won 39 of the 55 votes is donning the Mayor’s garb for the second time after a four-year stint from 2000.
The UDF’s mayoral candidate Sreedeviamma secured nine votes and B.Shylaja of the BJP five. The lone SDPI councillor abstained from voting while the vote of one BJP councillor was considered invalid.
In Kochi
In the Kochi Corporation, M. Anilkumar of the CPI(M) was elected Mayor and K.A. Ansiya of the CPI the Deputy Mayor. Mr. Anilkumar secured 36 votes, defeating UDF candidate Antony Kureethara who polled 32 votes. One Independent member abstained from voting.
The LDF with 34 seats in the council ensured the support of two Independent councillors while the UDF with a tally of 31 also had the support of one Independent. The NDA with five seats in the council fielded candidates for the election to both posts.
The election to the post of Deputy Mayor turned stormy with UDF councillors protesting against the District Collector’s delay in beginning the proceedings and storming out after the first round of voting. Councillors of the rival fronts came to blows at one point.
M.K. Varghese, Congress rebel who contested as Independent and won from the Nettissery division, was elected Mayor of the Thrissur Corporation with the support of the LDF. Mr. Varghese polled 24 of the 54 votes, while the UDF nominee N.A.Gopakumar polled 23 and the BJP candidate Vinod Pollencherry received six votes. One vote was invalid.
LDF nominee Beena Philip was elected Mayor in the Kozhikode Corporation and C.P.Musafir Ahamed the Deputy Mayor.
Ms. Philip bagged 49 votes while her opposing candidates K.C. Shobhita of the UDF and Navya Haridas of the NDA bagged 18 and six votes respectively. Only 74 of the 75 votes were polled as T.Reneesh of the BJP did not turn up. One vote was declared invalid.
Mohanan in Kannur
Congress leader T.O Mohanan was elected Mayor of the Kannur Corporation, defeating CPI(M) nominee N.Sukanya by 33 votes to 19. One BJP member abstained from voting and an IUML councillor could not vote as she arrived late. One vote was invalid. The newly elected Mayors later administered the oath of office to the Deputy Mayors.
