The district unit of the CPI (M) will devise its strategy for the three-tier local body polls only after pronouncement of the verdict in a batch of petitions pending before the Kerala High Court on the formation of new municipalities by the State government.
The party is legally fighting the notification against the delimitation of the self-governing bodies in the district as it feels that the decision is politically motivated.
One of these notifications is to de-link the erstwhile Cheruvannur-Nallalam, Beypore, and Elathur, which was merged with the Corporation before the previous local body polls. The merger of 20 wards of these three grama panchayats had helped the LDF scrape through, by winning seven more seats than the Congress-led UDF in the 2010 elections.
The party had employed a battery of high-profile lawyers including M.K. Damodaran and Surendra Prasad to fight the case in the High Court. “We hope to win the case on the grounds that the notification is constitutionally invalid,” Mayor A.K. Premajam said.
If the proposal is ratified, then Kozhikode Corporation will have 56 wards, down from 75. The boundaries of the new divisions have been redrawn for the benefit of the Indian Union Muslim League,” she says.
At present, the district has two municipalities- Koyilandy and Vadakara - Kozhikode Corporation, and 75 grama panchayats. The proposed municipalities are Payyoli, Koduvally, Mukkam, Ramanattukara, Feroke, Cheruvannur-Nallalam, Beypore, and Elathur- Thalakulathoor.
The creation of the new panchayats, Pantheerankkavu by merging Olavanna and Pantheerankkavu villages; Punoor panchayat by bifurcating Unnikulam panchayat; Nellipoyil panchayat by splitting Kodencherry panchayat; and Cherukulathoor panchayat by joining a few areas of Peruvayil, Mavoor, Chathamangalam and Kunnamangalam panchayats, Kaiveri panchayat by carving out the Naripetta and Kayyakkodi gramachayats are some examples.
“The delimitation of grama pancahayats and block panchayats has been done on communal lines to give the IUML-Congress combine an edge in the polls. Neither scientific nor Panchayati Raj guidelines have been considered,” P. Mohanan, CPI (M) district secretary said.
The Congress initially was unhappy over some of the notifications since its clout would weaken in some of the grama panchayats, especially Kunnamangalam. Local leaders have been vociferously demanding upgrading Kunnamangalam and Thamarassery into municipalities.
