Having managed to retain power in the Nedumangad municipality comfortably, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is yet to announce the two people who will helm the 39-member council for the next five years.
With the chairperson seat reserved for women councillors belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) category, one of two first-time councillors B.K. Sreekala and C.S. Sreeja who were elected from Valiyamala and Paramuttom wards respectively will be nominated for the top position.
The councillors, both in their thirties, have been members of the CPI (M)-feeder All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA). While both have also been active members of the Kudumbasree movement, Ms. Sreeja has also worked as an ASHA worker.
According to CPI(M) Nedumangad area committee secretary R. Jayadevan Nair, a final decision on the LDF’s chairperson-nominee will be taken at the party’s meeting on December 27, a day before the elections to the top posts will be held in the council. This will be the third time in the history of the local body that it will be led by a woman councillor, following the footsteps of former legislator A. Nabeesa Ummal and Lekha Vikraman who had come to the fore in 1995 and 2010 respectively.
Going by the LDF convention, the vice-chairman’s post is usually allotted to the CPI as during the previous term when Lekha Vikraman held the position. However, the CPI’s below-par performance this time has prompted a reassessment. The CPI only held three of the 27 seats that the LDF managed to win at the polls.
While senior CPI leader S. Raveendran was tipped to become the vice-chairman, CPI(M) sources now claim that senior CPI(M) leader and former standing committee chairman P. Harikesan could be nominated to the post.
For the first time, the municipal council will be dominated by women councillors—25 out of the total strength of 39. These include 16 representing the LDF, five the United Democratic Front (UDF) and four the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
