Thottathil Raveendran, the new Mayor of Kozhikode, on Thursday said he would act tough on corruption. “Kozhikode Corporation will not tolerate corrupt officials. At the same time, we will encourage the honest ones,” he said.
Mr. Raveendran was addressing the council after he was elected the Mayor.
He said the Corporation had to focus on waste menace and sought the support of the councillors and the public to carry out waste management projects.
Mr. Raveendran stressed on the urgent need to fill many vacancies in the Corporation office as well as the need to sensitise people to the sewage treatment plans in view of the large-scale protests against them.
Wins 46 votes
Earlier, the election process was conducted smoothly under the chairmanship of District Collector N. Prashanth. Mr. Raveendran (CPI-M) won 46 out of the total 71 votes polled. P.M. Sureshbabu of the Congress won 19 votes and N. Satheesh Kumar of the BJP 6 votes.
Three councillors, Anitha Rajan of the NCP, P. Kishenchand of the JD(U) and Navya Haridas of the BJP, were absent.
The Areekkad seat remained vacant following the resignation of former Mayor V.K.C. Mammad Koya.
Former mayors, including Mr. Koya, A.K. Premajam, M. Bhaskaran and T.P. Dasan, came to the council hall to congratulate Mr. Raveendran along with A. Pradeep Kumar, MLA.
Deputy Mayor Meera Darshak and Health Standing Committee chairman K.V. Baburaj spoke about the work of Mr. Raveendran as Mayor in his previous term and hoped that it would help the council work towards the goal of a more developed Kozhikode.
P.M. Suresh Babu of the Congress said Mr. Raveendran was a stickler for punctuality and expected others to follow him. BJP leader Nambidi Narayanan promised the support of his party to the Mayor.
IUML leader C. Abdurahman said the United Democratic Front would be a creative opposition in the council. Thomas Mathew, representing the JD(U), and Asha Sasankan of the CPI wished the Mayor well.
