Who will be the Mayor of Kochi if the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is voted to power in the Kochi Corporation?
It is one question for which the LDF district leadership refuses to give a direct and convincing answer. In the event of the LDF obtaining majority, it will be the CPI(M)’s nominee who will become the first citizen of the city as the party is the major constituent in the front.
Novices with political pedigree
Instead of projecting one person as its Mayoral candidate as it had done last time, the party has drawn up a list of Mayor probables, including some political novices with political pedigree. Usha Praveen, the daughter of former Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar; Monamma Kokkad, former Kerala State Women’s Commission member; Sunila Selvan from West Kochi; Tessy Jacob, former councillor; and Poornima Narayan, a lecturer at SCMS College of Engineering, are on the list.
CPI(M) district secretary P. Rajeev promised the Jana Sabha organised by the LDF here on Sunday that the front would pick its Mayor candidate from the 38 women it has fielded for election to the Kochi Corporation. “All the 38 women candidates are equally competent for the top job. If the people of Kochi elect all the women candidates from their respective constituencies, the front will pick its Mayor from among them within a minute,” said Mr. Rajeev, amid applause from the front’s supporters.
The UDF choice for the top slot may narrow down to Soumini Jain and Gracy Joseph, the two councillors of the outgoing council as Padmaja Venugopal, the daughter of former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran, has ruled herself out of the fray.
