KOCHI: As political parties have started discussions for selection of candidates for Kochi Corporation polls, dissidence is posing a headache to all the three fronts.
Former councillors aspiring for seats are threatening to contest as rebels in the election. The LDF has 34 councillors in the 74-member corporation council while UDF has 31 and BJP five. There are four independents also. While the LDF is confident of retaining power, the UDF is optimistic about returning to power. The BJP hopes to increase its tally as the number of wards has gone up from 74 to 76.
In a setback to the UDF, Sunitha Dixon of the RSP, who represented Vyttila division joined the BJP in the presence of state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Saturday. “I have expressed willingness to contest the election from Vyttila again. It is for the party to decide.
There are many welfare schemes introduced by the Centre which are being denied to the common man in the name of politics. My mission is to ensure that the benefits of welfare schemes reach the poor and needy,” she said. Responding to the news, DCC president Mohammed Shiyas said the UDF had expelled Sunitha after she voted in favour of the LDF in the council.
Retnamma Raju of Congress, who represented Vyttila Janatha ward in 2010 is planning to contest the election as an independent. Retnamma, who had served as the chairperson of Taxes Appeal Standing Committee is unhappy with the party leadership for neglecting her. The Congress leadership said Retnamma had left the party long ago and her decision will not affect the party.
In a big setback to the BJP, Shyamala Prabhu, the senior leader who has represented Cheralayi division for three decades winning six consecutive elections, is planning to contest as an independent. It is the attitude of local leaders who allegedly insulted her after the 2020 elections that prompted Shyamala to contest as a rebel. “I have no plans to leave the BJP. But if the party ignores me again I will have no option but to contest as an independent.
The local BJP leaders have submitted a list to the district committee and I understand that my name is not in the list. I represented the ward from 1988 to 2020. But after that they sidelined me and kept me away from party activities,” she said. BJP city district president K S Shaiju said only candidates recommended by local committee will be considered for the seat.
Meanwhile, T K Ashraf, an independent who helped the LDF retain power in the corporation, said he will return to his parent organisation, Muslim League. Ashraf who won from the Kalvathy ward as a UDF rebel had supported the LDF alleging that the League had treated him unfairly.
The decision of senior CPM leader K J Antony, who served as the opposition leader in Kochi Corporation from 2015 to 2020 to contest as an independent has shocked the CPM leadership in the district. Antony who represented the Nazreth ward was unhappy as the party denied him a seat in 2020.
“The UDF has offered me support and I am seriously thinking about contesting the election. I want to raise the voice of the fishermen community in the council,” he said.