After some confusion and a few dramatic developments, the United Democratic Front (UDF) managed to elect its candidate to the post of chairperson of the Feroke municipality on Friday.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) candidate P. Rubeena won by a margin of one vote in the 38-member council.
She secured 19 votes, including those of two Independent members, against M. Sudharama of the CPI(M), who was the nominee of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). The lone BJP member abstained from voting.
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The election was scheduled on Thursday but it had to be postponed for want of quorum as the UDF boycotted it. One of the reasons cited was that two out of three Congress members failed to acknowledge the whip notice issued by their party leadership.
The two Congress members, P. Shalini and Moideen Koya, had put forth a few demands, including replacement of party colleague Muhammed Hassan from the post of deputy chairman of the municipality. A consensus was then worked out among them after the intervention of the district and State leaders.
The election was necessitated after IUML member T. Suharabi resigned on August 15, following directions from the party leadership.
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Originally, the IUML leadership had chosen Ms. Rubeena for the post of chairperson reserved for women after the polls in November 2015. But, she had opted out citing some inconvenience.
To remain united
After the election, Ms. Rubeena told the media that the UDF would remain united in taking forward the development needs of the newly-formed municipality. Steps were also being taken to solve the drinking water problem in the region, she said.