Rebel CPI(M) councillor Kala Raju wrests power for UDF in Koothattukulam municipality

Rebel CPI(M) councillor Kala Raju helped the United Democratic Front (UDF) to wrest power in Koothattukulam municipality along the eastern suburbs of the Ernakulam district after she defeated the former chairperson and her former party colleague Vijaya Sivan to be elected the chairperson of the 25-member house on Friday afternoon.

Ms. Raju bagged 13 votes, including that of an independent candidate and the UDF’s vice-chairman candidate, P.G. Sunilkumar, in the election set to be held in the afternoon, against 12 votes managed by Ms. Sivan.

Ms. Raju was administered the oath in the council hall amidst the din of slogan shouting by the LDF councillors, accusing Ms. Raju and the UDF of engaging in horse trading. A similar result is likely during the vice-chairperson’s election in the afternoon when Mr. Sunilkumar will take on Sunny Kuriakose of the LDF.

Ms. Raju dubbed her victory as the answer to the LDF’s allegation of horse trading. “It was the LDF which tried to engage in horse trading by approaching me. But I followed my conscience. The UDF is no pushover and would not have supported me if I was into horse trading. I am confident of a smooth functioning by taking all along in the remaining short period left before the next local body polls,” she told the media immediately after her election.

The LDF announced Ms. Sivan and Mr. Kuriakose as the chairperson and vice-chairperson candidates respectively, just before the chairperson’s election on Friday morning. They held those posts till the LDF lost in the no-confidence motion moved by the UDF on August 5, thanks to the support of Ms. Raju and Mr. Sunilkumar.

While Ms. Raju and the UDF claimed that she wasn’t issued a whip by CPI(M), the LDF sources contested it. “We had issued her a whip to vote for the LDF candidate. We will move a petition for her disqualification with the Election Commission shortly,” said P.B. Ratheesh, CPI(M) Area Secretary, Koothattukulam. However, with the local body polls just months away, any such move may prove redundant.

Ironically, Ms. Raju will now move around in the chairperson’s official vehicle, in which she alleged she was abducted by the LDF activists on January 18, 2025, when she was on her way to the council hall to vote in the no-confidence motion moved by the UDF. She was allegedly whisked away after it emerged that she may vote in favour of the motion, following which the Koothattukulam police registered a case against 40-odd CPI(M) activists, including Mr. Ratheesh.