Mattannur municipality is destined to be outside the normal time schedule for the local body elections in the State because of certain peculiarities that marked its inception.
Mattannur municipality in Kannur district will remain rather quiet in the next few weeks when the election fever grips the surrounding areas in the district, with political parties, their candidates, and party workers campaigning in every nook and corner of the district to woo voters for the elections scheduled on November 2. The electorate in the municipality is following a different clock.
The existing council of elected members in the Mattannur municipality has two more years to complete their term as the election to the council was last held in 2012. What has made the municipality to remain outside the general timeframe for the local body elections were developments that featured its birth.
Mattannur grama panchayat was upgraded to a municipality in 1990 during the tenure of then Left Democratic Front government. Following protests, that decision was rescinded by the United Democratic Front government in 1994. Two years later Mattannur was finally upgraded to a municipality. In all the past election to the municipal council, in 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012, the LDF won the majority of seats.
