Athiyannoor, UDF’s lone bastion in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Battle will be tough for rival parties at Athiyannoor, the lone UDF-ruled block panchayat in the district for 10 years. Bindu Jayakumar, the outgoing block panchayat president of the UDF, said the qualitative work done in various spheres, including the waste management, during the last five years will have a direct bearing on the upcoming election. 

However  CPM area secretary P S Harikumar is confident of ousting the UDF and coming to power. “We are pretty confident in two divisions each in Venganoor, Kottukal and Athiyannoor panchayats. The seats in Nellimoodu and Pulluvila will also favour us this time,” he said.  

The Left Democratic front has also fielded many young candidates in the block panchayat with the hope of gaining more seats. BJP had high hopes in Venganoor panchayat last year. Though they are yet to win a seat in the block panchayat, the workers expect Venganoor region would vote in favour of saffron party.