KOCHI: As the Congress-led UDF has reclaimed its bastion by securing a decisive majority in the Kochi corporation, the question remains: Who is the choice for the next mayor? With the mayoral post reserved for a woman this term, the Congress has at least three senior women leaders, AICC member Deepthi Mary Varghese, Mahila Congress state vice-president V K Minimol, and Shiny Mathew, as strong contenders for the post.
Deepthi, who is also the KPCC general secretary, won the election by defeating LDF-backed independent George Nanattu, in the stadium division. She represented the Karukappilly division in the outgoing council. Meanwhile, Deepthi said that the party leadership will decide on the mayoral candidates. “We have an organisational structure. Leader of the Opposition V D Satheeshan is in charge of the Kochi corporation. The party leadership, KPCC and AICC will decide on the mayor candidate through discussions considering the factors. The party will choose a strong leader,” she told TNIE.
Elected Palarivattom councillor Minimol defeated LDF candidate R Ratheesh, who was the councillor from Padivattom division. She had represented the Mamangalam and Palarivattom divisions earlier and served as the chairperson of the public works standing committee in the outgoing council and the health standing committee chairperson in the 2015 council. As the UDF secured a majority back in 2015, one name widely discussed as the mayoral candidate was Shiny Mathew.
Shiny, who did not contest in the election in 2020, returned to give a fight in the Fort Kochi division. She defeated JDS candidate Sheeba Lal, who was also the welfare standing committee chairperson in the outgoing council. She was expected to take over as the mayor in the second half of the 2015-2020 term, upon the agreement between the party leaders. However, she did not, as the then mayor Soumini Jain did not step down. Shiny had also served as the chairperson of the town planning standing committee.
Ernakulam District Congress Committee president Muhammed Shiyas said the party is yet to discuss the mayoral candidate. “We don’t decide on the mayor candidates ahead of elections. The parliamentary party will meet and discuss to find an apt leader for the position. We haven’t started the discussions,” he said.
M G Aristottil from Kaloor South division, Ernakulam South division councillor K V P Krishnakumar and Abdul Latheef from Edappally division are the possible candidates for the deputy mayor post. Considering the usual pattern, if the mayor is from Ernakulam Central, the deputy mayor will probably be from West Kochi. The party won 46 seats out of 76. One UDF-backed independent V P Chandran also won from the Vyttila division.