After weeks of indecision and political blame game, the administrative impasse in the Erattupetta municipality appears to be clearing up.
As the municipal council meets on Monday to elect its new chairperson, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has decided to abstain from the election to keep its word of not holding onto power with the support of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). The move, in turn, is expected to help the United Democratic Front to take control of the civic body once again.
The UDF, on its part, has decided to field IUML councillor Suhra Abdul Khader, who was ousted through a no-confidence motion last month, as its chairperson candidate. In the 28-member council, the coalition now has 13 members, excluding a rebel; the LDF has nine members and the SDPI five members. The LDF had earlier planned to field Ansalana Pareekkutty, the Congress rebel as the chairperson candidate. In case of her winning the election with the support of the SDPI, the coalition could claim that it merely supported a Congress rebel.
But with the UDF successfully raising the pitch of an unholy nexus between the CPI(M) and the SDPI, which had a State-wide resonance against the backdrop of the narcotic jihad controversy, the LDF was forced to drop the plan. Senior CPI(M) leader and Minister V.N. Vasavan and KC (M) legislator Sebastian Kulathungal came out in the open, dismissing any links with the SDPI.
