The Kottayam district panchayat which witnessed one of the most controversial electoral upsets earlier this month when the Kerala Congress (M) registered an upset victory over their former coalition partner the Congress with CPI(M) support in the election to the post of president, is all set to go through yet another spell of election on Friday.
The post of chairman of the Standing Committee on Development has been lying vacant ever since its former chairman Zachairas Kuthiravelil was elected president of the district panchayat in the controversial election on May 3.
According to Congress sources, the party will field Lisamma Baby, currently member of the Standing Committee on Welfare for the post chairman of the Standing Committee on Development scheduled for Friday.
The KC(M) on the other hand, has proposed the name of Sebastian Kulathumkal, at present member of the Standing Committee on Public Works, for the post.
The CPI(M) is expected to finalise their strategy at the meeting of the party’s members of the district panchayat scheduled for Friday morning. Now all eyes are on the outcome of the meeting with speculation rife to the effect that the formula experimented for the post of president could be repeated for Friday’s elections too.
Meanwhile, former district panchayat president Joshy Philip of the Congress will be fielded by the party for the election to the member of subcommittee on Public Works, in case Mr. Kulathumkal wins the election for chairmanship of Standing Committee on Development.
In the May 3 election for the post of presidency, the KC(M) had won with 12 votes. This included six of the KC(M) and six from the CPI(M). The Congress candidate had received only eight votes. The CPI which had one vote abstained and the lone P.C. George-supporter’s vote was pronounced invalid.
