Congress likely to prefer single mayoral term for Kochi

Notwithstanding the presence of multiple potential mayoral candidates who have made it through in the United Democratic Front’s landslide victory in the Kochi Corporation, the Congress ideally prefers a single term for its mayoral candidate for the entire duration of the council, unlike the split terms it had tried out in the past in various local bodies to satisfy different groups and allies.

The split-term experiment has not gone especially smoothly and has often been acrimonious for the UDF in general and the Congress in particular, whether in the case of mayorships, chairpersons of municipalities and grama panchayats, or even standing committee chairpersons. For instance, a split term for the works standing committee chairperson in the last Corporation council between Sunitha Dixon of the RSP, a UDF ally, and Congress leaders V.K. Minimol and Seena Teacher resulted in an election petition against Ms. Dixon, following which she eventually stepped down.

“Our priority will be a single term for the Mayor for the full length of the council unless there is disagreement in the parliamentary party or pressure from the leadership. Split terms are often riddled with problems,” said a senior Congress leader.

However, this is easier said than done, considering that the election has returned at least three potential mayoral candidates — Deepthy Mary Varghese, who won from the Stadium division, V.K. Minimol from Palarivattom, and Shiny Mathew from the Fort Kochi division. While Ms. Varghese, a second-term councillor, remained the oft-mentioned name as the probable Mayor even before the election, both she and the party sought to downplay the speculation throughout.

This is the fourth term as councillor for Ms. Minimol, who also served as the health standing committee chairperson when the UDF was in power between 2015 and 2020. Shiny Mathew, also a multiple-term councillor, is no pushover either and was a strong contender for the Mayor’s post in 2015 before the party settled on Soumini Jain. A section of the party is also of the view that Ms. Mathew should be made Mayor to win over voters in West Kochi, where the party’s victory was not as sweeping as in the city.

The Congress is yet to decide the date of the parliamentary party meeting to select the mayoral candidate. The election of mayors and chairpersons will be held on December 26.