BJP backs Congress rebel to become panchayat president in Kasargod

Kozhikode: A Congress rebel has become the president of a grama panchayat in Kasargod with the support of the BJP.  Ms P.J. Lissy, who was recently ousted from the Congress, received the BJP support to defeat  CPM's Omana Balakrishnan and  became  the Kuttikkol grama panchayat president on Friday.

Ms Lissy got nine votes and Ms Omanan seven  in the election. The CPM now holds only the  post of the chairman of the development standing committee.

In the 16-member council, the LDF is the single largest party with seven members, two short of a simple majority. While the BJP has three members, the UDF has five along with an independent, a former Congressman who contested as a rebel candidate.

The political equations of the area is  special. In November 2015, BJP's V. Damodaran was elected vice-president with the support of the UDF. The two rival fronts voted again together to elect the chairpersons of the welfare standing committee and the health and education standing committee.

CPM's N.T. Lakshmi won with seven votes as president. However, in December, the UDF moved a no-confidence motion against her which was passed with  nine votes and she had to step down. In November, a section of senior CPM workers had joined the CPI.