All the four municipalities in Pathanamthitta are witnessing triangular contests involving the United Democratic Front (UDF), Left Democratic Front (LDF), and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA.
The UDF is hopeful of retaining power in the municipalities of Pathanamthitta and Adoor, while the LDF has done very good homework before choosing candidates on the basis of winnability.
The UDF that had won 17 of the 32 municipal wards in Pathanamthitta is propping up the achievements of the just-dissolved municipal council chaired by A. Sureshkumar of the Congress.
Failures exposed
Meanwhile, the LDF has left no stone unturned in exposing the failures of the previous municipal council.
Both the UDF and the LDF are facing rebel menace in a few wards. The former municipal chairperson, Rasheeda Beevi of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is contesting against the party’s official candidate.
The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) candidate is contesting against a Congress candidate Geetha Suresh.
Former municipal chairperson Amrutham Gokulam of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], too is faced with rebel menace from Suni Raju of the Janadhipathya Mahila Association. Shiaz Khan of the DYFI is contesting against Abdul Shukoor of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in ward-11.
The BJP had two members in the dissolved municipal council.
In the dissolved 39-member Thiruvalla municipal council, the BJP with five members was regarded as the `king-maker.’ The LDF with 14 members ruled the civic body with the support of the BJP and two independents in the last lap of the five-year term. Powered with its new-found ally, SNDP, the BJP is determined to win eight to 10 seats in the ensuing polls.
The UDF position appears to be safe in its traditional bastion of Adoor. The UDF had 17 members in the dissolved 28-member municipal council, while the LDF had nine members, besides two independents.
The newly formed Pandalam municipality too is witnessing triangular contests in all its 33 wards. The erstwhile Pandalam grama panchayat had two BJP members and the BJP-SNDP combine has launched aggressive campaign to make its presence felt in the civic body too.
