The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is treading cautiously at Vadakara municipality, though it is a CPI(M) stronghold.
The LDF is 28-member strong in the present 47-member municipal council. This includes a couple of seats for the CPI and one for Janata Dal (Secular).
RMP factor
Regardless of a fairly “good show” by the last council, the LDF is concerned about Opposition charges of “lack of development” as well as the disgruntlement of the NCP and the INL, two of the partners, in the seat-sharing process.
This is besides the threatening presence of the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP), which vows to rout the LDF candidates wherever possible.
The present municipal chairperson and CPI(M) leader P.P. Renjini, however, rules out any disappointment on the part of LDF allies in the seat-sharing process or the possibility of the RMP upsetting the front’s apple cart. The LDF, according to her, has already sorted out all grievances of the allies in seat-sharing and creatively addressed the key developmental issues of the municipality, including the waste-management problem and housing issues during the last council.
“The unprecedented development of Vadakara is for the people to see and they are only concerned about that when it comes to voting,” says Ms. Renjini, who is not in the fray this time.
The United Democratic Front (UDF), which was confined to the Opposition bench for the last several decades at Vadakara municipality, however, is quite buoyant and hopeful of wresting the power this time.
According to C. Valsalan, the chairperson candidate for the UDF in the municipal election, the front lost the municipality last time for a marginal share of votes. “Coupled with the internal problems of the LDF and the anti-incumbency sentiment, the election scene is clearly in favour of the UDF in Vadakara now,” says Mr. Valsalan.
Drinking water woes
Whichever front comes to power, the drinking water woes of the coastal divisions, waste management for the town area, housing for economically backwards sections and serious scale of drinking water pollution at Karimbana Thodu will be some of the major challenges for it, say observers.
