Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 13: The BJP which for the first time had secured a historic victory in Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, Kerala’s capital city, in a triangular contest during the recently held civic body elections in the southern state, suffered a major setback on Tuesday when its candidate failed to clinch Vizhinjam seat in a crucial byelection.
The BJP councillor VV Rajesh was elected as the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation last month. This is for the first time in history when a councillor of the saffron party has been elected as the Mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Rajesh, who is saffron party’s Kerala Secretary and Kodunganoor ward councillor, secured the support of 50 BJP councillors and an independent. The development was hailed as the “watershed moment” by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who credited the party’s grassroots workers for the “spectacular results.”
The BJP, which had won 50 seats in the 101-member civic body, had hoped to strengthen its grip by winning the Vizhinjam seat where the polling was deferred due to death of an independent candidate before the civic elections held on December 9. But the defeat of its candidate Sarvashaktipuram Binu, who could finish third behind the UDF and LDF nominees, would mean that the BJP could not secure a simple majority on its own and its mayor would have to entirely depend on the independent to stay in power.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate K H Sudheer Khan defeated Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate N Noushad by 83 votes. While the UDF candidate secured 2,902 votes, the LDF candidate polled 2,819 votes. BJP candidate Sarvashaktipuram Binu finished third in a closely fought contest with 2,437 votes. Polling was held in the Vizhinjam ward on Monday.
With its win in Vizhinjam, the UDF has increased its tally in the civic body from 19 to 20 seats, double the number of seats it won in the 2020 elections. The result is also a setback for the CPI(M)-led LDF, which held the ward in the previous council. The LDF’s tally in the civic body remains at 29.
Bye-elections in two other local body wards in the state saw the LDF and the UDF share the spoils but in neither of the cases there was any change in the power equation in the respective civic bodies. In the Onakkoor ward of Pampakuda panchayat in Ernakulam district, CPI(M) candidate C B Rajeev defeated Congress candidate Jose by 221 votes. The result does not alter the power dynamics in the panchayat, where the UDF controls nine of the 15 seats.
In the Payimpadam ward of Moothedam panchayat in Malappuram district, UDF candidate K Subaida defeated Independent candidate Sebina Teacher by 222 votes. The panchayat is also governed by the UDF.
