The return of the Kerala Congress (M) [KC(M)] into the United Democratic Front (UDF) fold will force a change of guard at the Kottayam district panchayat, the only one presided over by the party in the State.
According to Zachairas Kuthiraveli, president, he has already handed over his resignation letter to the party chairman. However, the putting in of the papers to the panchayat secretary will take a few days more since he had to fulfil certain formalities. “The process of preparing the Annual Plan has been completed and it has to be vetted by the District Planning Committee (DPC). Since the president heads the DPC, it has to be convened and the process completed,” he said. Moreover, he would have to complete the formality of formally informing the district panchayat members about his resignation.
“We hope to complete these processes by Tuesday or at the latest, Wednesday,” Mr. Kuthiraveli said.
LDF help
Mr. Kuthiraveli had come to hold the post of the district panchayat president on May 3, 2017 following the KC(M) decision to severe ties with the UDF. The six-member KC(M) contingent had wrested power with the help of the LDF. In the 22-member district panchayat, the Congress had eight seats, KC(M) six, CPI(M) six, and CPI and Janapkasham, one seat each.
As per the original agreement in the UDF after the last election to the local bodies, the Congress and the KC(M) were to share the five-year team. Within the Congress, the two-and-a-half-year share was to be divided among Joshy Philip from the Vakathanam division and Sunny Pampady from the Pampady division. However, in April 2017, Mr. Philip was elected District Congress Committee president and an election to the post was forced upon. It was then that the KC(M), which had severed ties with the UDF by then, decided to contest and defeated the Congress nominee Sunny Pampady.
According to Mr. Kuthiraveli, the procedure for the acceptance of his resignation and election of a new president will take nearly a month.
