Mayors and deputy mayors of the six Corporations and chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the municipalities in the State were elected on Friday after days of keenly watched political manoeuvrings and speculation about the choices of the winning fronts.
While V.V. Rajesh took over as the first BJP Mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, four United Democratic Front Mayors, three of them women, took the oath in Kollam, Kochi, Thrissur, and Kannur Corporations. The lone LDF Mayor, O. Sadasivan, was sworn in as Mayor of the Kozhikode Corporation.
In the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Mr. Rajesh took charge as its 47th Mayor and the first BJP Mayor. Mr. Rajesh received 51 votes while the LDF candidate R.P. Shivaji won 29 votes. UDF’s K.S. Sabarinadhan received 17 votes. Mr. Rajesh had won from the Kodunganoor ward of the 101-ward Corporation.
V.K. Minimol of the UDF, a four-time councillor and State vice-president of the Mahila Congress, was elected Mayor of Kochi. She defeated Jagathambika Sudarshan of the LDF by 48 votes to 22. Deepak Joy of the UDF was elected deputy mayor.
Mr. Sadasivan of the LDF took the oath as the new Mayor of the Kozhikode Corporation. In the elections held on Friday, he won 35 votes against the 28 votes secured by the UDF candidate S.K. Aboobakker. S. Jayasree of the LDF was elected deputy mayor in a separate election held in the afternoon.
In the Thrissur Corporation, Niji Justin of the UDF was sworn in as Mayor. She was elected with 35 votes following an intense political manoeuvring that had unfolded since Friday morning. A. Prasad of the UDF was elected deputy mayor.
A.K. Hafees of the UDF took oath as the Mayor of the Kollam Corporation. He defeated the LDF candidate P.J. Rajendran winning 27 votes against the 16 votes won by the latter. Udaya Sukumaran of the UDF was sworn in deputy mayor.
UDF councillor P. Indira was elected the Mayor of Kannur. Ms. Indira won 36 votes against 15 secured by the LDF candidate V.K. Prakashini. K.P. Tahir of the UDF was elected the deputy mayor.
Among the municipalities, the Pala municipality was in the news on Friday after 21-year-old Diya Binu, took the oath as its youngest chairperson. Ms. Binu, her father Binu Pulikkakandam and his brother Biju Pulikkakandam had won from adjacent wards as Independents.
The elections to the posts of Mayors and municipal chairpersons were held on Friday morning. The deputy mayors and vice-chaipresons were elected in the afternoon.
The elections to the posts of presidents and vice-presidents in the district, block and grama panchayats will be held on Saturday.