KOCHI: A clear picture on the nominees for Ernakulam District Panchayat president post and Kochi Mayor will emerge by Friday after the KPCC meeting that will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday and Thursday. Though the focus of the KPCC meeting may shift following the political developments on Tuesday in connection with bar bribery case involving Finance Minister K M Mani, the seat-sharing among the factions will also be discussed at the meeting.
“The main focus of the KPCC meeting will be the review of the poll results, what resulted in the average show of the party and the stance to be taken in the case of the rebels who had won the elections. For instance, in local bodies like the Kannur Corporation, the Congress rebel had won and the final tally is 27-27. So the rebel's inclusion in the front will be crucial and the KPCC needs to give focus to such issues along with the stance it needs to take in local bodies where the results are hung. The situation in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation too will be discussed in detail,” according to insiders in Congress.
Regarding the Kochi Corporation and Ernakulam District Panchayat, they said that as the UDF had majority in both, the state leadership will not interfere much in this issue. “What becomes crucial will be the sharing formula that will evolve after the meeting. The KPCC meeting will finalise whether to give the District Panchayat chief's post to 'A' group or 'I' group. If the District Panchayat president post is given to 'A' group, then 'I' group will get the Mayor post,” they added.
Once the decision on sharing prominent posts is finalised, then the group managers are expected to come forward with the names that they had projected. “So, by Friday, a clear picture on the nominees will be drawn,” according to the insiders.
After the 2010 election, the District Panchayat president's post was given to the 'I' group. So, Eldhose Kunnappilly became the president, while the vice-president post was given to 'A' group's Bindhu George.
In Kochi Corporation, the Mayor post was given to 'A' group and Tony Chammany came as their nominee. But, G Venugopal of the opposite faction too was there in the race for the Mayor post strongly, which forced the Congress to go in for a parliamentary party election. The Congress parliamentary party selected Chammany after an election presided over by senior Congress leader Thalekkunnil Basheer in which Chammany defeated Venugopal.