THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Vattiyoorkavu bypoll around the corner, the city corporation council is witnessing a new political development. UDF councillors are ruing the pro-ruling side stance they had taken in the past when serious issues and allegations were brought up in the council. A few of them feel that this has given clout to Mayor V K Prasanth, who is contesting the bypoll as the LDF candidate.
The most recent incident that transpired in the corporation council is the huge fine imposed on the civic body by the Pollution Control Board for poor waste management. The opposition parties, UDF and BJP, demanded that the money be paid by those responsible rather than taking it from the corporation fund. Having sparked fresh debates, this now seems to have made UDF councillors re-evaluate their stance on various issues in the past.
“We have aligned with the ruling side simply because BJP was raising issues. The primary focus was on ensuring that our systems remain secular and not fall prey to BJP. While we don’t agree in principle with the ruling side, we had stood with the ruling side on many issues simply to thwart BJP. Now, we feel that this was not a sensible thing to do. The mayor got undeserving hype for simply doing his job,” a UDF councillor told Express. There is uneasiness about this among the councillors.
Misplaced stand
Many issues had been brought up by BJP councillors, including alleged corruption in the appointment of sanitation workers which later became a controversy and eventually led to a complaint lodged with the Vigilance department. It is pending investigation. The UDF councillors had then backed the ruling side in passing the agenda in the council.
Council party leader of BJP M R Gopan feels that the sentiment will last only till the elections are over.
“Once Vattiyoorkavu election is over, their viewpoint will change again. UDF has aided the ruling side by standing with them. They work in tandem in all corrupt actions,” he said.
Denying this, UDF council party leader Anil Kumar said, “We have only supported the budget as it concerns many projects and the betterment of the corporation. However, it is a sad fact that many of the projects launched with much pomp and show have been derailed. We do not have any ties with the ruling side in any other regard than the work we need to do together as an elected council. In fact, we have held many protests and raised various issues of corruption in the council in the past four years.”
Councillor Beemapally Rasheed backs the statement. “We do not have any allegiance to the ruling side and is never aligned with their agenda. However, budget was a necessity. It is also true that many such projects including LIFE Mission and PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) which we expected to benefit people are now stalled,” he said.
V K Prasanth said, “As mayor, it was my responsibility to work with all elected representatives. We have received support from both sides in many of our good initiatives. It is a collective effort. The current statement could be politically motivated as it is the election period.” Whether the new realisation will stay with UDF councillors after the Vattiyoorkavu election remains to be seen.