The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee has convened a meeting of presiding officers of the three-tier local bodies belonging to the party to thrash out strategies for the elections to these institutions.
The meeting, expected to be attended by over 1,000 delegates from Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, will be inaugurated by Congress Working Committee member A.K. Antony.
Leaders to attendKPCC president V.M. Sudheeran will preside over the function, while Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala will address the gathering.
Apart from president and vice-president of grama panchayats and district panchayats, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of municipalities will attend the meeting.
Chairpersons of various standing committees, block and mandalam presidents, KPCC executive members, KPCC and DCC office-bearers, and MPs and MLAs representing the four districts will attend the meeting.
Among the many issues, the most prominent one will be the delimitation of wards on the basis of population.
A UDF sub-committee has also suggested increasing the number of wards in the panchayats and municipalities reflecting the population.
Over the years, the five-year delimitation of wards has proved to be crucial in deciding the outcome of the local body polls.
The Congress does not want to mess up the upper hand that the UDF has in this matter by wasting time in squabbles.
With the possibilities of formation of new municipalities by either upgrading panchayats or bifurcation the existing ones quite bright, the party leadership is set to leverage the advantage it has at present.
Regional conferencesThe KPCC will also organise two more regional conferences in Kochi and Kozhikode, covering Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad, and Kasaragod districts as well.
Sources said the meeting was likely to discuss the possibilities of forging a common platform for the KPCC’s proposed anti-liquor and anti-narcotic campaigns.
