In a rare development, the outcome of the Mattanur municipal poll was celebrated by both the LDF and the UDF on Wednesday.
The LDF celebrated its ‘victory’ with much jubilation for it could retain the control of the municipal administration although the number of seats held by it came down causing serious embarrassment to the leadership of the CPM in the district. At the same time, the UDF camp was jubilant as the result of the poll came out, because it could win 14 seats in the municipality which was no small achievement. No wonder the UDF organised a victory procession virtually humiliating the CPM rivals.
The fall in the number of seats held by the CPM in Mattanur municipality is being viewed as another blow to the party in the context of the of the T P Chandrasekharan murder and its aftermath and the defeat of the LDF in the recent assembly bypolls. The UDF had made it a point making it all as campaign issues in the bypoll.
“There was an unholy alliance between the UDF and the BJP in the poll here. The official machinery had been misused by the UDF to arrest the CPM workers with the intention of damaging the poll campaign of the party. Still the LDF could win majority of the seats in the municipality,” claimed CPM leader M V Jayrajan.
At the same time, KPCC secretary Satheesan Pacheni stated that the people of the municipality had expressed their anger against the politics of violence and murder politics being followed by the CPM. The people’s re-action to the politics of violence is evident from the poll verdict in the municipality.
The Muslim League also had made an impressive performance in the muncipal poll in Mattanur. All of its candidates were elected to the council.
It may be recalled that CPM central committee member E P Jayarajan was elected to the state assembly from the Mattanur constituency by a margin of more than 25,000 votes in the last assembly poll. The municipal area of Mattanur form a major segment of the assembly constituency.
The fall in the number of seats in its citadel, coming in the wake of the Neyyatinkara and Piravom bypoll debacles of the LDF, has shown that some of the red forts in Kannur too are crumbling.