Palakkad municipal chairperson Priya Ajayan resigned from her post following rifts within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Ms. Ajayan’s resignation has come after nearly three years of rancorous disputes within the party over her style of functioning.
Although she said that she was resigning because of personal matters, it is learned that the BJP district leadership asked her to quit.
The party leadership wanted her to quit after a section of BJP councillors and workers came out against her.
BJP district president K.M. Haridas said here on Monday that the party permitted her to step down after “carefully examining her letter to resign on personal grounds.”
Ms. Ajayan had strong opposition from her own party from the beginning itself. The anti-Priya group within the BJP expressed its dissatisfaction with her sometimes openly.
They even sided with the Opposition to defeat some of her decisions. The rift within the ruling party had caused inordinate delays in convening the municipal council meetings.
Although Ms. Ajayan did not say anything in public about the opposition from within her party members, it had begun to severely cripple the functioning of the municipal council.
Three BJP councillors had walked out of the previous council meeting, blaming Ms. Ajayan of taking unilateral decisions in connection with the road repair work in their respective wards.
Former municipal chairperson Prameela Sasidharan was among the three councillors who staged a walkout.
