P.K. Rajamohanan of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has been elected chairperson of the Neyyattinkara municipality.
Priya Suresh, the Kerala Congress (M) candidate from the Panagattukari ward, has been elected municipal vice-chairperson.
Mr. Rajamohanan secured 18 votes in the election to the chairperson’s post on Monday. Elected from the Moonnukallinmoodu ward, Mr. Rajamohanan defeated Jose Franklin (Muttakkadu ward councillor) of the United Democratic Front (UDF) who secured 16 votes.
Though the LDF had fallen short of majority in the 44-member council, it is the single largest party in the council with 18 seats.
The UDF was one seat short at 17.
The BJP had won nine seats. Being the single largest party and in the absence of any winning Independent candidates, the LDF did not face any problems in coming to power
Mr. Rajamohanan who quit as the CPI(M) Neyyattinkara area secretary to contest the polls had been the face of the LDF election campaign.
In the first round of voting, he secured 18 votes, while the UDF got 16 votes. One UDF vote became invalid. Shibu Raj Krishna of the Bharatiya Janata Party secured nine votes.
In the next round of voting in which Mr. Krishna was not considered, Mr. Rajamohanan again secured 18 votes against Mr. Franklin’s 16 votes, while one UDF vote became invalid yet again.
Vice chairperson
In the election to the vice chairperson’s post held in the afternoon, Priya Suresh, the lone Kerala Congress (M) candidate, secured 18 votes to defeat Ajitha R. of the UDF who got 17 votes.
Ms. Suresh will remain vice chairperson for the entire tenure of the council, the LDF said, denying that the post would be shared with any of its other constituents.
Mr. Rajamohanan, the new chairperson, told The Hindu that an electric crematorium for the town and effective waste management with plastic segregation and recycling would be the top priorities of the LDF. Both these projects had been on the manifestos of all the coalitions for long but were yet to be realised.
The LDF intended to fix a date to seek the opinion of the public on the comprehensive development of the town and on the basis of inputs would prepare a master plan.
The LDF would also need to look into its surprise loss in four wards — Elavanikkara, Mullaravila, Chaikottukonam, and Pullamala — that slightly upset its calculations, Mr. Rajamohanan said.