KAKKANAD: The factional feud which erupted between the two factions of the Congress parliamentary party in Thrikkakara municipality seems to be inching towards a short pause.
In the election, which were held here on Saturday for the second time, Ajitha Thankappan of the ruling party has been unanimously elected for the post of Public Work standing committee chairperson.
Her expulsion through no-confidence motion and the dramatic events witnessed in the last week during the election has deepened feuds within the Congress party. Her re-induction, as per the instruction from KPCC, will be a major relief to both groups and especially to ‘A’ group as it had submitted the no-confidence motion without adhering to the KPCC order.
Earlier in July, an attempt by the Congress to elect Ajitha Thankappan to the post had failed to materialise due to a failure in filing nomination within the time period stipulated by the election commission. Following this, P S Radhamani, another Congress councillor in the seven-member committee, had been declared as the chairperson. But later she submitted her resignation as per the ‘A’ group leader’s move and that resulted in a second election for the same post.
“With this, the feuds existing among the party is resolved. We submitted the nomination to the election officer two days before commencement of the election to avoid the same incident. The seven council members were presented at the election and as per the KPCC direction the ‘A’ group has not initiated any opposition,” Shaji Vazhakkala, municipal chairman and ‘I’ group leader, said. Like in the previous election, K A Varghese, Deputy Collector of Land Acquisition, was the returning officer for Saturday’s election and he declared Ajitha Thankappan as the winner.
Commenting on the election, ‘A’ Group leader and former municipal chairman who moved the no-confidence motion against Ajitha Thankappan said the nomination of Ajitha was initiated according to the KPCC direction. “The compromise deal by the KPCC also stipulates the present municipal chairman to hand over the post to the ‘A’ group for the last one year,” he added.