KOCHI: The LDF’s move to vote out Soumini Jain from the post of Kochi Mayor through a no-confidence motion, which is all set to be taken up for discussion on September 12, will be a herculean task as the UDF’s district leadership which met here on Wednesday has decided to fight against the LDF’s move.
Even though the ruling councillors expressed their unhappiness over the Mayor’s approach, the 38 councillors expressed their solidarity to fight against the no-trust motion. The meeting chaired by DCC president T J Vinodh was attended by Soumini, Hibi Eden, MP, P T Thomas, MLA, K V Thomas, Tony Chammany, K Babu, N Venugopal and Dominic Presentation.
“Some of the councillors expressed their unhappiness over the Mayor’s unilateral decisions. Though several councillors decided to stay away from the no-trust motion, they finally changed their mind. The 38 councillors have expressed their support to the Mayor to fight against the no-confidence motion. If the LDF wins the motion, it will also affect the upcoming by-election,” said a source.
Change of guard likely in Corp after by-election
However, it is learnt the leaders also agreed to bring a change of guard in the Corporation after the by-poll. “There was some mutual agreement between both ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions on sharing the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Though the leadership was not ready to take up the matter for discussion earlier, they finally agreed,” the source said.