KOCHI: With barely two days remaining for the election of chairpersons of corporation standing committees, uncertainty is looming over the choice of candidates in UDF and BJP camps which got a majority in Works and Tax and Appeal committees, respectively. Since the RSP is putting pressure on the UDF leadership to field its candidate Sunitha Dixon for the chairperson’s post, the Congress is finding it difficult to field Seena teacher and V K Minimol to the post.
“In the present situation, V K Minimol is the experienced person and she was also a member of the same committee. Since RSP is putting pressure for fielding Sunitha Dixon, it will be difficult for the leadership to make a quick decision. A final decision will be known by Friday,” said a source with the district congress committee. According to him, compared to other standing committees, holding the chairperson post of the Works standing committee has more responsibility. “ Since the reins of power are with the LDF, it will be difficult to implement several projects. It will be easier for the LDF to pass the buck to the works committee.”
“Those capable of delivering under pressure will be suitable for the post. We are not sure if the party will agree to share the post with the allies,” said the source. Meanwhile, the BJP which all set to wrest the tax and appeal committee with a majority of four members is still confused over choosing the right person. Though the saffron party’s original strategy was to put up Sudha Dileep as the chairperson candidate if the party were to get any standing committee, the plan failed miserably after Sudha Dileep was unable to register a victory in the election.
Padma Kumari T, Mini R Menon and Adv Priya Prashanth are the three BJP councillors in the committee.
“This is the first time in the history of Kochi corporation, that the BJP received the highest majority in the standing committee. Though the three -- Padma Kumari T, Mini R Menon and Adv Priya Prashanth --are new faces in the council, they are capable of putting on a good show. A final decision regarding will be taken on Thursday,” said Sudha Dileep.
Meanwhile, the ruling CPM-led LDF which wrested power after a decade-long gap decided to go in for ‘power-sharing tactics’ to satisfy its senior leaders, is yet to decide on fielding the candidate for the chairperson post of the Town Planning committee. It is learnt that M H M Ashraf is demanding the chairperson’s post. “The party is planning to give the seat to Sanil Mon J whose stand helped the party wrest power in Kochi corporation. But Ashraf is also putting pressure on the party for the chairperson post. It will be a risky affair for the party to allot the seat only for Sanil Mon,” said a source.