The United Democratic Front, which has been going full throttle against the Left Democratic Front in the poll-bound Puthuppally, on Monday suffered a major embarrassment after the Kerala Congress members in Kidangoor panchayat, Kottayam joined hands with the BJP to capture the local body.
In an election held to the panchayat council , Thomas Maliyekkal of the Kerala Congress - a key constituent of the UDF, defeated E.M. Binu of the LDF to become its president. Mr. Maliyekkal bagged eight votes against the seven votes received by the LDF candidate.
Although the KC has just three members in the 13 member election council, it received the support of all five BJP members in the panchayat to win the election. Later in the day, Reshmi Rajesh of the BJP was elected as the vice-president with UDF support.
These elections were necessitated by the resignations by its president Bobby Mathew of the Kerala Congress (M) and vice-resident Hema Raju of the CPI(M) as part of a power-sharing agreement within the LDF. The agreement , according to the LDF leadership, had stipulated the two parties to share the two posts between them for a period of two and half years each.
The victory, which came just hours before the arrival of top UDF leaders including the AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal to Puthuppally to attend an election convention, left the UDF leadership in a quandary. KC chairman P.J. Joseph soon intervened and directed Mr.Maliyekkal to correct the course by stepping down, though to no avail.
With no other options left, Mr. Joseph declared the expulsion of Mr.Maliyekkal and two other members from the party membership.
Mr. Maliyekkal, however, stood unfazed and held that he would continue to lead the council with the BIP’s support.
“The decision to associate with the BJP was in response to the situation that prevailed locally. The general stance of the UDF was not applicable here and in this context, we have decided to move along,” he said.
The LDF, meanwhile, was quick to cash in on the opportunity and accused the UDF of forging an unholy alliance with the BJP ahead of the by-election. Lopez Mathew, LDF district convenor, said the episode was a dry run to the political scandal that the assembly constituency was going to witness.
