KOCHI: Congress councillor V R Sudheer was elected the 26th deputy mayor of the Kochi corporation on Wednesday by a comfortable margin of 17 votes. LDF candidate P J Yesudas secured 21 votes, while BJP’s Jalaja S Acharya secured six in the election. District Collector G Priyanka was the presiding officer.
The ballot cast by LDF councillor Lavitha Nelson of the Tharebagham division was declared invalid after she signed the paper without writing her name. UDF councillor Albert Ambalathinkal was also barred from voting.
Sudheer was first elected to the corporation council in 2000 from Elamakkara South division. He has been elected four times since and currently represents the same division (Ward 21). He is also the vice-president of the Ernakulam North Block Congress Committe and president of the Kochi Corporation Workers’ Congress.
“Sudheer’s experience as a four-term councillor will help in devising and implementing projects for the city’s development,” Mayor V K Minimol said after his oath-taking ceremony. Sudheer pledged to work without discrimination.
The election was necessitated after former deputy mayor Deepak Joy, who represented Ayyappankaavu division, was elected to the assembly in the elections held in April.
Sudheer was nominated by the Congress parliamentary party on Tuesday. A member of the party’s ‘A’ faction and hailing from Ezhava community, Sudheer was nominated by the party to maintain community and group balance. After two years, K V P Krishnakumar, who represents the Ernakulam South division, will get a shot at the deputy mayor post, as part of an agreement between the ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions.
