KOCHI: Finally! it is Soumini. Overcoming the hurdle of strong internal conflict in the Congress, Soumini Jain is all set to become the 19th Mayor of the Kochi Corporation.
She will be the second woman Mayor of the City, after the late Mercy Williams. Announcing the decision here on Tuesday after a parliamentary party meeting, KPCC general secretary P M Sureshbabu said Soumini would be the Mayor candidate of the UDF, while T J Vinodh would be the Deputy Mayor candidate. Elections to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts of the Kochi Corporation Council will be held on Wednesday.
The Congress leadership, meanwhile, ruled out any chance of political undercurrents in the election, and said that both the UDF candidates, who had a thin majority in the election, would emerge victorious.
Soumini, who won the election to the Kochi Corporation for the second consecutive term, entered into electoral politics as a candidate from the Ravipuram division in 2010. Her father P K Menon is from Palakkad, while her mother’s ancestral home is at Thevera. After, completing graduation at the Thevara Sacred Heart’s College, Soumini did her Masters in Economics from Kerala University. Her husband Jain is a businessman, and daughter Padmini Jain is a freelance fashion designer. Her son Varun Jain is a B-Tech student.
When asked about her vision for Kochi and her responsibilities as the Mayor, Soumini said she would share her views after assuming office. She had served as the Works Standing Committee chairperson in the previous council.
Meanwhile, the Congress has fielded it’s most experienced campaigner T J Vinodh as the Deputy Mayor candidate. In 2002, he had served as the Deputy Mayor of Kochi. The district general secretary of the Congress party and a prominent representative of the ‘I’ faction, Vinodh started his political career with the KSU. Later, he became a DCC member and the general secretary of the District Youth Congress Committee. He was first elected to the Kochi Corporation council in 1995. This is his fifth term as councillor. In the previous council, he was the Development Standing Committee chairman.