Hardly six months after he came up with the idea of ‘New Koothattukulam’, which he described as a movement for local development devoid of party politics, Sunil Kumar P.G. emerged the sole victorious Independent candidate in the 25-member municipal council in the eastern suburbs of the district.
The 54-year-old debutant councillor believes that though he did not contest under the banner of the movement, it did help him and so as its volunteers who believe in it.
“Some people would want to equate it with the Twenty20 experiment in Kizhakkambalam. But unlike them, we do not have a corporate backer, and our idea is more about enlisting and mobilising resources, both human and financial, for local development, said Mr. Kumar, who left the CPI four years ago.
The movement, he said, was still in a nascent state, where consultations were being held to evolve a consensual model of development. Having been an active presence in civic and social issues even before contesting elections, Mr. Kumar is now determined to make the development of Ward 19, from where he has been elected, a template for the larger plan of taking the movement forward.
Just days after being sworn in as councillor, he has already taken up two projects for immediate perusal from the 19-point charter he had drawn up for his manifesto. “The anganwadi in the ward works out of a dilapidated rented building. Steps have already been taken to secure clearances for constructing a new building on four cents of paddy field. Talks have also been held with the engineer to remove obstacles in using NABARD funds for facilitating flow in a local canal passing through the ward,” Mr. Kumar said.
Having tasted victory in his second attempt in the municipal election, Mr. Kumar, who was instrumental in setting up an expatriate organisation of the CPI in the UAE, has decided to remain neutral in the council won by the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
