Ponmundam stands out as the panchayat in the State where hostility toward the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is most intense. In this civic body, most parties, especially the Congress and the CPI(M), have formed an alliance against the IUML.
Ironically, the IUML is fielding candidates for 16 of the 18 seats under its official ‘ladder’ symbol, while the Congress and the CPI(M) are contesting only through Independent candidates. In Ponmundam, the Congress and the CPI(M) have no official symbols, and neither the United Democratic Front (UDF) nor the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has any representation.
Ponmundam stands out as the only panchayat in the district where the Congress’ ‘hand’ and the CPI(M)’s ‘hammer and sickle’ symbols are absent, leaving the IUML to face a field of Independent candidates.
The IUML had held the panchayat for three consecutive terms, with the Congress serving as the main opposition. In the 2010 civic polls, the IUML won nine seats to the Congress’ seven. By 2015, a coalition of parties, including a splinter group called the Ponmundam Congress backed by the CPI(M), united against the IUML, yet the League still captured 11 of the 16 seats.
In the 2020 civic elections, Ponmundam’s contest turned into a three-way race. The IUML won 12 seats, while the Congress took up the opposition role with four. With the League’s tally rising from nine to 12 over three terms, the Congress is now reaching out to other parties to challenge it.
Attempts by senior Congress and IUML leaders to revive the panchayat alliance fell through as local leaders refused to cooperate. Congress’ grassroots members consider the IUML and its leaders unacceptable, and the sentiment is mutual.
Kundil Hajara, the outgoing panchayat president, said a deep-seated animosity had grown between the IUML and the Congress in Ponmundam. “Trust has vanished, and it seems hard to regain,” she said.
Even though the UDF had held together during the 2021 Assembly polls, the LDF’s V. Abdurahman’s margin of nearly 1,000 votes over the UDF’s P.K. Firoz underscored the IUML’s waning trust in the local alliance.
The IUML has tied up with the Welfare Party, which has a nominal presence in the panchayat. Opposing them is the Janakeeya Munnani, supported by several parties except the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with even the SDPI backing it in multiple wards. The BJP, meanwhile, has fielded candidates in most wards. The contest has effectively become a battle between the IUML’s ‘ladder’ symbol and a range of Independent symbols.
Hydrose Master, a member of the District Congress Committee, is contesting in Ward 10 under the ‘scissors’ symbol, while Congress block president R. Komukutty is running in Ward 8 under the ‘umbrella’ symbol.
Published – November 27, 2025 01:17 am IST
