Independent front casts shadow on UDF hopes

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Swathanthra Munnani (independent front) floated by former Congress strongmen K. Suryaprakash and councillor K.G. Suresh hangs like the Damocles’ sword over the UDF as these rebels have  fielded  17 candidates in 33 wards across Varkala in an attempt to split  the ruling front’s votes.

Mr Suryaprakash,  former Varkala municipal chairman, and his four fellow councillors have been fighting in the Supreme Court after the state election commission debarred them from contesting the local body polls for the next six years. 

He  survived a no-confidence motion with the help of four other UDF rebel councillors, LDF representative and BJP against the UDF's official panel.  

Before the elections,  this rebel group split again as  Mr Suresh and Mr Suryaprakash alone decided to start an independent front.

The duo enjoy support from a sizeable section of UDF camp  and openly say they want to be the kingmakers at Varkala.

“We four are barred from the fray but Swathanthra Munnani aspires to be a decision-making force in Varkala municipality. To negate the damage we may cause, both the UDF and the LDF are making  adjustments in  their wards by pitching weak people against rivals’ stronger candidates,”  Mr Suryaprakash told Deccan Chronicle.

Mr A. Dawood (Kottamoola), Ms P.S. Vinayakumari (Ramanthali), and Ms  S. Sanoosh (Papansam) had backed  Mr Suryaprakash during the no-confidence motion.

Interestingly, Mr  Sanoosh has openly supported  the CPM which has  been retaining Papansam seat for decades before he won here by a small margin last time. 

The BJP which has fielded  32 candidates as against 13 during the last election has  high hopes of winning the prestigious Temple ward.  

During the by-election here after the demise of sitting member Sreedevi Amma, the BJP had lost by a margin of just 27 votes.  It has fielded  Swapna Sekhar against UDF’s sitting municipality chairperson N. Ashokan.

On the other hand, the  CPM has already started rejoicing over the issues in the UDF camp. “Our traditional wards like Vilakkulam, Karunilakode and  Kanwasramam  still strongly back us.

The UDF’s traditional wards like Municipal office and Jawahar park  have strong rebels, so we may get to win this municipality,” Ivin, a local CPM worker said.