John Mulankattil of the Congress is the first nominee of the United Democratic Front (UDF) to have won a seat in the local bodies election. He has been elected unopposed from the 27th ward of the Chengannur municipality.
John Philip, another member of the Congress, too had filed nominations. He had applied for the Congress nomination, but was declined by the party. Mr. Philip’s wife, Mariamma John Philip, had won from the ward in the 2010 elections. She was the standing committee chairperson of the municipality.
P.C. Vishnunath, Chengannur MLA, went to his home and had marathon discussions with him and his family, which yielded results. ‘‘The candidate presented himself before the Election Commission officials just five minutes before the closing time for withdrawal of nomination and withdrew the papers,’’ Mr. Vishnunath told The Hindu .
Setback to NDA, Left
The election of the Congress candidate has become a setback to the LDF and NDA. ‘‘The ward being a stronghold of the UDF, there was no scope for the LDF to succeed. The strategy moulded by the LDF team led by CPI(M) district leadership was to extend support to the rebel. The NDA, which had allocated the ward to Kerala Congress led by P.C. Thomas, too had planned to do the same,’’ Mr. Vishnunath said. ‘‘Unlike in Kannur where the CPI(M) had threatened the candidates of other parties, we did not resort to any dubious means to deter candidates of other parties in Chengannur,’’ he said.
The member has already received the certificate from the electoral officials. His victory would be the first for the UDF this time, Mr. Vishnunath said.
