2 days ago
UDF suffers a blow in Vaikom as Kerala Congress councillor joins CPI(M)
With just a few months to go for the local body elections in Kerala, the United Democratic Front (UDF) has suffered a major setback in Kottayam with a Kerala Congress councillor in the Vaikom municipality switching allegiance to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. This move has left both the UDF and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) with an equal number of members in the municipal council.
Sindhu Sajeevan, who represents Ward 13 and serves as chairperson of the municipality's development standing committee, joined the CPI(M) at a reception held at the Vaikom Boat Jetty on Wednesday evening. CPI(M) Kottayam district secretary T.R. Raghunathan handed over the party flag to Ms. Sajeevan, welcoming her into the party.
Spat over graft charges
Ms. Sajeevan decided to leave the Kerala Congress and the UDF following a public spat with municipal vice-chairman P.T. Subash over alleged corruption charges raised against her. While the allegations had initially been brought up by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ms. Sajeevan maintained that she had received no support from the ruling council.
Upon exiting the UDF, she alleged corruption running into crores of rupees in municipal projects, including grass cutting along the backwaters, mini MCDF, bed distribution, and construction of public toilets.
UDF dismisses claims
The UDF leadership, however, dismissed these claims. Municipal chairperson Preetha Rajesh stated that the civic body had spent only ₹25 lakh in total on the four projects cited by Ms. Sajeevan.
In the 26-member municipal council, the UDF and the LDF now have 10 members each, while the BJP has four. The remaining two seats are held by a Congress Independent and a CPI(M) Independent respectively.
