Thiruvananthapuram: While the Congress-led UDF emerged dominant by securing mayoral positions in four Kerala municipal corporations, it was not without some drama. In the run-up to the polls, there was a series of last-minute decisions, internal party dissensions, abstentions, and allegations of bribes.
On the day of the state’s mayoral elections, four-time Congress councillor from Thrissur Lali James alleged that she was dropped and the mayoral post was given to Dr Niji Justin for monetary gains.
Lali James said, “The Thrissur mayoral post went to people with money. It’s a post for the people, and it shouldn’t be given to fulfil the satisfaction of community leaders.”
The Congress-led UDF won the Thrissur Corporation winning 33 seats, against LDF’s 13 and NDA’s eight.
She also alleged that the selected mayor, Niji Justin, required “tuition” to function as a mayor. But though she was dissatisfied with the decision, she would continue as a Congress worker, Lali said.
The party, which didn’t announce its mayoral face during the polls, declared Dr Niji Justin as its choice only on Thursday night, overlooking Lali James.
On Thursday, Lali had alleged that the decision was taken by a group led by party general secretary K. C. Venugopal.
“If high command leaders like K. C. Venugopal and Deepa Das Munshi are selecting mayors, it is like a slap in the face of grassroots workers,” she said.
However, the Congress leadership dismissed the allegations. District Congress president Joseph Tajet said the decision was taken after considering the party’s parliamentary committee and councillors.
“If she has any complaint, she can approach the KPCC,” Tajet said, adding that the four-time councillor should reveal if she was asked for money for selection.
The controversy in Thrissur comes a day after a Congress councillor in Kochi alleged irregularities in the selection of the mayoral candidate for the Kochi Corporation.
Soon after the party announced the candidate for the post, KPCC general secretary and two-time councillor Deepti Mary Varghese alleged that the selection was not done in a fair manner and that the opinion of councillors was taken without the presence of a KPCC observer, as mandated in the party circular.
Deepti said her name was earlier circulated for the post, and now Leader of Opposition V. D. Satheesan, who was directly overseeing the election, should explain the change in decision.
Satheesan, however, said the mayoral posts for the party, except in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, were not announced early, and in such cases a circular is issued to the party’s district committees.
“If there were more than two contenders, we had to comply with the procedures. We followed this even in my constituency in Paravur. There is nothing wrong in wishing for the post, but after the decision, some people were not selected,” Satheesan said, adding that no community leaders were involved in the decision-making process.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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