: Despite being a panchayat with clear dominance of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Koduvally, newly upgraded as a municipality, will be a tough prospect for the United Democratic Front (UDF) this time when it goes to the polls in early November.
If the IUML, a 10-member-strong entity in the 23 member panchayat, is mired in corruption allegations, the Congress with its three ward members is plagued by the intrinsic problem of groupism, leading to more than one candidates filing the nominations representing the same party. With the last date for withdrawing the nominations falling on Saturday, even the leaders of the party are not sure who will be the official candidate. Three of the senior ward members, including panchayat president Rasiya Ibrahim, representing the IUML, are facing allegations of corruption for helping private parties to possess government land through unlawful ways. The party leadership intervened in the issue and asked all the three members to keep away from contesting the elections to the local bodies this time.
Members defy diktat
However, all the three are bent on contesting and are in the fray already. Asked about the situation, Karat Razak, a senior leader and mandalam committee secretary of the IUML said he was not entitled to comment on the issue. “I hope everything will be fine when the result comes,” was his cryptic response. Though not a stronghold of the Left parties, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is facing the election on a different label — Azhimathi Virudha Janapaksha Munnani — is upbeat about its prospects in the emerging scenario. Besides, the key constituent CPI(M), the Munnani also has the National Secular Conference (NSC) led by P.T.A. Raheem, MLA, the Welfare Party and INL under its fold.
The 23-member Koduvally panchayat has 14 UDF members and nine LDF members. With the upgrading of the panchayat to a municipality, the number of wards has gone up to 36 from 23. According to a senior local leader of the CPI(M), the panchayat, when it gets its new identity of a municipality, will defy its history and will vote against a completely corrupt front.
