Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vice president T. Siddique has oozed great confidence ahead of the local body polls in Kozhikode saying that the United Democratic Front (UDF) would make a comeback with massive victories in the district.
Mr. Siddique, who has been tasked with steering the party affairs in Kozhikode, told The Hindu that the UDF began the process of coordinating with the partners of the front when he was the District Congress Committee president. “Rather than letting leaders of grama panchayats decide on the campaign activity, this time we have focussed exclusively on block panchayats and district panchayat,” he said.
He said that the UDF would end the 45-year ‘misrule’ of the Left parties in the Kozhikode Corporation and capture the district panchayat as well. “No city in the State has been worse than Kozhikode. We are highlighting four main things — nepotism, corruption, misgovernance and underdevelopment — before voters,” Mr. Siddique said.
The Congress leader also ridiculed the manifesto of the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) offering solutions to drinking water problem, waterlogging and housing issues. “This shows that they have done nothing. The manifesto seems to suggest that the LDF was in the opposition all these years,” he said.
Property tax issue
Likewise, city residents are angry with the LDF for collecting property tax with retrospective effect from 2016. “If the UDF comes to power, it will order a probe into the underhand deals in awarding projects to party affiliates, including the Amrut project and the functioning of the Mahila Mall in the city,” he said.
He claimed that the UDF would improve its performance in the seven municipalities in the district by winning at least six of them. “The UDF will capture at least nine of the block panchayats. The move to include agricultural land around the Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary within the buffer zone will be reflected in the polls in rural areas,” he added.
Mr. Siddique said that the decision of the Loktantrik Janata Dal to shift loyalties to the LDF was due to the craving for power rather than ideological reasons.